Broken Glass
by Emma Raye
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke left Sakura pathetically broken, but like any good shinobi she put the pieces back together the only way she knew how: relentless training. Years later Konoha is in the midst of a war and Sakura is a force to be reckoned with. Frankly, she's not even sure if she wants her teammates back. [AU]
1. Prologue

A/N: Welcome! Since, this is a prologue it is quite short. But it's just a taste and backstory of what is to come. :)

* * *

Prologue

* * *

The day Sasuke left had obviously broken Sakura. The effects were immediate like a sledgehammer breaking a window. It was clear and the pain had obvious and clear source, betrayal. The day Naruto left was a small crack in the glass. As if a pebble had been flicked into her. It's easy to brush off a small chip, especially when it is clearly overshadowed by shattered glass everywhere. The thing about small chips is that under the right amount of pressure, they spider. Such as the pressure of unmeasurable loneliness. And then suddenly, at a time far from the initial incident there is shattered glass everywhere.

The shattering happened as Sakura trained in a field midday. Tsunade, naturally, was busy and unable to attend to her training. After nearly six months of training, Sakura was best left to her own devices anyway. She knew her goals and what her next accomplishments should be. And accomplish she did.

Her fist collided with the ground and for the first time of many, the entire training field shattered. Trees uprooted and the creatures which lived below scurried out and into the depths of the woods. And Sakura collapsed, presumably of exhaustion and cried, presumably of joy. After all, that's what a person does when they accomplish a goal they had been working toward for months.

Alas, it was not of exhaustion and certainly not joy. It was of grief and terrible realization. It was not as if she and Kakashi spoke often. The man had become recluse on a several solo-missions. Tsunade was on a diplomatic journey and was always too busy for idle chatter. And Ino was in the middle of training for T&I, not to be heard from for nearly three weeks. Not that Ino bothered to talk with her anyway lately, Sakura was considered too depressing.

And god knows Naruto and Sasuke were miles and miles away. Refining their skills, maybe even battling each other. Maybe happily having dinner together. Who knows because Sasuke had left her on a bench in the middle of the night and Naruto never bothered to write. And she was so dreadfully alone that the urge to vomit was growing.

Sakura shut her eyes and coughed out the last few sobs and squeezed the last few tears free. She watched them land on her skirt and she stared out at the ground broken in front of her. This was her breaking point and, she resolved, her starting point. She wasn't going to be an average kunoichi. She was already a damn good medic, and was undergoing diplomat training.

Those were lovely, and dainty. And expected of a kunoichi. But, poisons were not. Poisoning and shattering earth was not expected of pink-haired young woman.

That evening she admitted her application for ANBU. And in the months it would take it get considered, she would hone her poison skills because by god she was going to be anything, but average

* * *

A/N: So I started this because Sakura was done an awful disservice in canon. There are moments where she shines, yes, but alas she is often pummeled and shafted. I also think her reaction to being left behind by her teammates was unnatural and that's how this was born. It's AU, obviously. It will differ greatly from canon, as you'll see in the next chapters.

Again, it's a prologue so it's quite short. But, it gives you a taste so let me know what you think! Also, possibly wanting a beta for this story, so if you liked it enough and would like it beta for me, let me know!

Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter One

A/N: I usually don't start with notes, but the response to this was such a delight! I wasn't planning to put this out for about a week, but since you guys liked the prologue so much here ya go. I hope it lives up to your expectations! :D

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

In Sakura's genin days, her lack of self-preservation skills had made her a damsel in distress more times than she could count. Now, it just made her horrifying. Especially went standing against the wall of an enemy base, outnumbered nearly twenty to one.

"Ready, swan?"

Neji stood crouched nearly five feet from her. Typically, she chose to operate on her own. Stealth was easier without a partner, but Tsunade had insisted on a partner for his particular hit. And thank god for it. Without the byakugan, Sakura would be going in blind.

Sakura was met with a nod. She adjusted her radio and made a few hand signals as she slipped over the wall. Her chakra suppression was excellent, but one talented sensor and the enemy would know exactly where she was. And in this case, they'd be dead. No matter how talented, twenty to one are near impossible odds.

The directions Neji gave were curt and only given as needed. She gave a hand signal as she saw her target. Getting in was easy. It was getting out that she was worried about. This assassination had to go unnoticed. Yet, as the man was the one in the center of the room, there was next to no chance of that now.

It took nearly forty-five minutes until the target sulked off into the hallway. Sakura slunk along the walls and was finally behind her target. She slipped the injection out of her pouch and dashed forward, injecting it into his thigh. Trusting her abilities, she kept running.

Time was off the essence now. This was not a concealed area and in no time at all the enemy would notice exactly what had occurred. A grunt, a swear word and seconds later a thud was all Sakura needed to hear she rounded the corner.

"Left at the door way. Out the window." Sakura twisted left into the room and tossed herself out the window. Neji was already underneath, the agile jerk. She didn't stop.

He broke into a run to match hers, heading toward the forest.

"Job well done, cobra."

"Without you, we'd be dead." Sakura relished in the cover of the trees, but knew better than to stop.

"We could still be dead. I doubt that general was a careless man."

Lucky for them, the few traps they encountered were easily avoided and they eventually made themselves at home among the trees near the border to fire country.

"I still can't believe Stone took Grass." Sakura chewed her soldier pill and sighed. She whipped out a small scrolled and scribbled information down for Kakashi. He'd been as angry as she'd ever seen when Grass was taken. Hopefully, now they could take it back.

They had been winning this police action for the past six months, but Stone was gaining movement now that Mist had joined up with them and Lightening wasn't too far behind. Sand could only do so much since they had lost a lot of ninja in the past few months, but god, a two-front war wasn't doing the Leaf any favors.

"I heard Naruto is heading back to village."

"Yeah, well that's the third time this year I've heard that rumor." Sakura had stopped caring after the second time.

Neji shrugged. "Lee confirmed. He sighted them apparently with the trait- Uchiha."

"Well, that's nice." Sakura's lips pressed together as she used the fake gentle voice that came so natural to her in annoying situations.

"Don't use your diplomat voice with me."

"Then don't bring up annoying subjects."

Sakura had pretty much lost hope when Naruto had left to train and find Sasuke with Jiraya. Naruto didn't bother to write, or check in on her. He had run off to train and retrieve Sasuke. She was left to her own devices. Sure, they could come back, but she had her own goals now. Save as many innocent lives as possible and damn all to hell those in her way.

Her ANBU career was flourishing. She'd earned herself a page in the bingo book, with only her ANBU mask because no one knew the Cobra's real identity. Being a notorious assassin would put a damper on her diplomat career. Between that and assisting with the hospital and medical tents when she could, Sakura didn't really have time for friends. Though, Team Gai were pretty much her permanent training partners.

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair. Maybe them coming home wouldn't be the worst them. They were arguably well-balance now that she'd improved. She was good in stealth and poisons, Naruto had been working toward taijutsu and some powerful ninjutsu before he left. And well, Sasuke was a wildcard, but he could balance them anywhere if he was improving as he'd had hoped before he left. But, they had left her. Abandoned her and clearly didn't give enough of a damn to contact her. Some teammates they were.

But, alas, there were more important matters to attend to.

"I'm going to turn toward the Land of Rivers in the morning. I need to make sure they're still on our side."

Neji looked over Sakura's dirty features. He was one of the few people who knew of her several positions.

"Don't." Sakura stopped him before he could even say whatever rude thing was on the tip of his tongue. Neji rolled his eyes in response.

"Really! I carry several changes of clothes and I'll stop at an inn when I get into friendly territory to freshen up. I'm not an idiot!"

Neji snorted and Sakura shoved him. He had saved her in more than one way the past few years, so despite his consistent judgement of her contradictory positions. Today was only another drop in the bucket toward what she owed him.

* * *

Sakura sipped her tea as she sat next to the Village Hidden in Valley's leader. The elder had always been one of their least steady allies.

"Rumor has it, Konoha is currently losing ground to Stone in Grass.."

Sakura turned her head and blinked in faux surprise. "Is that so? That's not what I heard."

"Ah, what did you hear?" Sakura felt his eyes boring into her but she kept up her pleasant smile.

"Please, you go."

A snort from the leader followed.

"The traitorous Uchiha has seemingly entered Konoha with open arms. A show of weakness if I ever saw one."

Sakura's smile faded as she sat down her cup and stared back at the elderly man. She truly forgot just how much this man despised the Uchiha. How inconvient that Sasuke chose now to return to the village.

"Konoha has deep rooted values in loyalty-"

"Your village has the largest amount of rogue ninja per ninja second only to the Mist! Don't fill me with fluff around loyalty."

A long breath followed. "Look. I'm not trying to fill you with fluff. Our villagers are strong-willed and will fight for what they believe in. Sasuke left to achieve a goal and if he returned, he returned by nothing other than free-will. We are not spineless like the other nations that fight only for power. We are powerful due to our values. I encourage you to think carefully if you're planning to reconsider your alliance."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I threaten any enemy of Konoha. If you are not our enemy, there should be no issue." Sakura's smile had returned as she finished the last of her tea.

"Impressive, Haruno. The village is lucky to have a woman like yourself. As expected, our alliance will continue for the foreseeable future."

Sakura stood and bowed.

"Your support is greatly appreciated. The Hokage will send additional protection to replace any lost forces."

The fact the Hokage was secretly a drunkard was a fortunately hidden fact from most of the population.

Sakura tossed a few scrolls on the desk and sighed at Tsunade snoozing on the desk. She had drunk herself into unconsciousness? Now that was unusual. It had to have been a particularly bad night.

"Shishou. Shishou. Lady Tsunade." Sakura groaned, rubbing her eyes. She was going on thirty-two hours with no sleep and really _really_ just wanted to deliver this report.

Her fist collided with the desk. Enough to crack it, but not enough to break it in half. Self-restraint was clearly her shining quality lately.

"God! What in the-" Tsunade startled awake and pointed an accusing finger Sakura.

"You broke my desk! How dare you! All you had to do was wake me politely!" Sakura's judging frowned caused a brief switch in gears.

"I was asleep wasn't I? Ah well! It's been quite the day, really. I earned it."

"Well my day consisted of travel through fire country, non-stop. The day before I was blessed with meeting the leader of the valley village. Our alliance is secured, rest assured. And that day before that I got to travel through River country, and I _love_ the humidity. And then day before that I completed an S-Rank mission with ANBU swan. It was success minus body recovery. I did not have the time, or the ability to take it with me."

"Take the day off, you earned it." Sakura turned and waved her off. She had picked up a shift at the hospital tomorrow. Shizune and Sakura were spread thin as Konoha's two most competent medics.

"Fine, work yourself to death! I'm not helping when you faint!"

Sakura turned back around and sighed. Sometimes she forgot that waving off your Hokage was rude even if you had the occasional drink with her. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help Shizune. She deserves a day off more than me."

"He's detained right now."

Sakura knew who she was talking about, but nevertheless asked. "Who?"

Tsunade perched her chin on her palm.

"Don't be coy. It doesn't suit you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so? Why should I care?"

"Do you think I should release him?"

"I'm not Ino, Inoichi, or Ibiki. Ask them."

Tsunade sighed. "You really are a diplomat, dancing around my questions."

"I really am the best tap-dancing in the five great nations." Sakura smiled. She was good at her job. She was eloquent, had a massive network of information thanks to Jiraya, and could be ruthless as necessary.

Knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere, Tsunade waved her out and Sakura happily obliged. She really did enjoy the evening. The air was cool and welcome in comparison the blazing sun of the morning. She had half a mind to stay up and enjoy it, but sleep depravation was not a pretty sight.

As she entered her apartment she spotted the photo on her end table immediately. The photo of team seven from their first few days as genin. She admired her own stupid in the photo. She had been so full of wonder and naivety. It was endearing. And stupid. The fact she was in the middle was interesting enough considering how much she was never a part of that damn team.

It shouldn't really have been a surprised she was left behind. Hell, Kakashi hadn't even been able to teach her many of the things she needed to know. Not that he had time to, since the police actions began. She had been left behind, again.

Sakura stepped into the shower and appreciated the cool water as it pounded on her back. The icy tiles against her temple helped too. She had trained for years to be where she was now. She was in ANBU and set up to be a captain sooner rather than later. She traveled to the nations and negotiated treaties and other alliances, and back home she healed people in ways they had never thought possible.

And what were the two of them now? Angry genin with a bone to pick? What difference had they made? Nothing. And they had the nerve to protect her. Sakura felt tears forming and thanked the heavens she could pass them off as part of the shower. She had saved thousands of lives in thousands of ways. She had caught up to, and possibly surpassed them. Not that they would care or know anyway.

She shut the shower. Enough. Wrapping the towel around her body, she headed back toward her room, thanking the heavens her parents had allowed her the move out. She couldn't imagine her mom's nagging at this point.

Or, them tolerating an evening knock at the door.

"Sakura!" The voice chimed and Sakura cringed and headed back to her room anyway. She managed to slip into pajamas before the knocking began again.

"C'mon! I know you're in there. I can _sense_ you now." Oh, so Naruto could sense things now?

Sakura flung the door open and before she could even process it, she was wrapped in a warm hug. The anger she had felt for years melted, if only for a moment as she relished in his arms. He had made it home alive and safe. She leaned back and looked him over. He was so tall.

"You're tall now."

He glanced down at her with that stupid, toothy smile. "It's nice, you don't look any different." And the anger was back, along with a punch.

"I have grown like five inches you jerk!" Naruto nursed his swelling skull.

"It's a good thing! You're still so dainty minus the punching and stuff." He was not helping his case.

The silence he was met with made him shift uncomfortably. "Ya know, I kept my promise… he's home. They took him for now, but I brought him back like I said I would."

Sakura crossed her arms and leaned against her door frame. "I told you, you didn't need to keep that promise. You should've just stayed home."

"I couldn't let our team be broken like that! I need us all together again."

"Oh, you wanted us together so you left?" Naruto recoiled and his eyes widened.

"Well, when you put it like that… it doesn't make much sense. But, were together now."

Sakura scoffed. "Yeah, together. He's in jail, you know nothing about me, Kakashi is miles away. We're really together now." Naruto went to open his mouth and Sakura shook her head.

"I have work in the morning. Good night." She closed the door and exhaled. She had been wanting to say that for years. Her fingers gripped the wood and the heavy feeling on her chest only grew. Sakura bit her lip, she'd assumed that heaviness would lift once she got it off her chest.

But, the look on Naruto's face. And the fact the feeling when she saw that he was home safe and Sasuke was in village boundaries. That brought her relief. Spitting her bitterness only seemed to make the weight heavier. She growled and stomped back to bed. The hospital was going to be insane tomorrow.

* * *

A/N: And we're off! Chapter One is on a roll. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated (also if you give one from an account, I always reply!)! Thank you for reading!

Also some replies to guests!

Unnamed guests: Thanks for reviewing, guys! This story will be pretty much gen. There really won't be shipping, and if there is it would be a minor part. This isn't my romance series (Though, check out Healing and Forgiveness if you're into that).

SuperSaiyanGal: Yes! Manga Sakura was better, but alas still so untapped. It's a shame. Like I said above, I'm not planning on any ships. If there are relationships they won't be a focus of the story by any means. I just finished a romance series and need a break from that.

Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

* * *

Seven hours into her twelve-hour shift and Sakura was certain death was near. The break room had been out of coffee the past four times she popped in and she hadn't had a long enough break to run across the street for a cup. Death was near, she was absolutely sure of it.

She leaned against the nurse station and held her head.

"C'mon forehead, accomplish something today."

Sakura didn't even bother to question why Ino was picking up nursing shifts again. The girl was supposed have two mandatory days off. Clear orders when you were in T&I. Apparently too many in that division went crazy if they didn't interact with the outside world.

"Shut up, pig. There's not a drip of a coffee in this hospital and I'm _dying._ "

Ino shifted for a moment and Sakura lifted her head at a particular scent. Coffee. Ino had coffee.

"How did you get that!" Ino held it just out of Sakura's reach.

"Tenten dropped it off. All you have to do is ask people for things nicely and they deliver." Ino grinned as she took a long gulp of her own cup.

"If you don't give me that cup right now, I will lose it." Diplomat training apparently diminishes when one is faced with caffeine withdrawals.

Ino rolled her eyes and shook her head, but handed her the cup nevertheless. "Some diplomat you are."

Sakura shoot her a deadly glared, but was too busy sucking down the way-too-hot coffee to retort.

"Don't you have patient to see, doc?" Sakura rolled her eyes and waved her off. Ino was right, however. She was nearly six minutes late for her next patient. And they were always so dreadfully grumpy when she took too long. They should try doing what she did, honestly.

Well, some of them did. Most of them were shinobi after all. Sakura shook her head. Arguing with yourself was weird and she did it far too often for her own tastes. She opened the door and immediately began speaking.

"So sorry for the waiting, getting a cup of coffee was an emergency. Not a single drop in the whole hospital, can you believe that? It's a tragedy, really."

She practically danced over to the clipboard, not bothering to look at it. No one had warned her so it was probably routine and caffeine worked wonders for her mood. She would be doing pirouettes if the room had enough space. She twirled as she went to open the curtain. One might as well have fun if they're exhausted and stuck in the hospital for hours.

"So, what can I do for you today-" Sakura stopped dead as she opened the curtain and saw the person on the bed in front of her. A painfully familiar, but eerily grown faced stared back at her. His eyes were filled with nearly as much dread as her own.

"-Sasuke Uchiha?" She immediately stiffened and eyed the paper.

"I need to be cleared for the field." Sakura nodded and took out of her stethoscope.

"Take off your shirt please."

He blinked at her momentarily. And Sakura tried not to seem too annoyed with the entire thing. She raised her brows holding her scope just over his chest.

Sasuke shimmied out of his shirt and she placed the scope on one spot. "Breath in."

He did. "And out."

She moved it again. "In."

"You look well."

Sakura finally left her eyes meet his again. She tried to ignore the dryness in her mouth. "Please don't speak. Out."

She swore she saw the slightest grimace, but knew it honestly was the exhaustion kicking in as the coffee high wore off.

"Last time. In. Out."

The rest of the exam went on in silence. The most deafening silence Sakura had ever heard. Sasuke wasn't a meek individual, but he'd never been one to start conversation. Especially when she shut him down so readily before.

"Activate your sharingan, please."

"What?"

"Do you I have to check your hearing?"

And then he smirked. The rat bastard smirked at her and Sakura felt herself heating with anger and melting with a strangely familiar sensation all at the same time.

"Good one." Sakura was going to allow the smile she'd be holding back to slip out, but only a little. He was right, it _was_ a good one.

As she shined a light into his red eyes she had to admire the intricacies of his chakra coils she could see even without medical ninjutsu. It was fascinating.

"Typically bloodline limits aren't evaluated, but with the ANBU application in your chart, I figured I'd get it out of the way now."

The ANBU application was interesting. He really must have cleared his psyche evaluation to not having Tsunade throw it back in his face.

"This is what you do now?"

Sakura glanced up from her clipboard. Another round of small talk, interesting. She pursed her lips.

"Generally, yes." It wasn't a lie. She was generally a medic, omitting she was ANBU was honestly just part of her life now. Ino didn't even know she was in it and Kakashi wasn't sure which mask she wore.

"Interesting." Sakura frowned at the surprise in his voice, not that he could see it considering she was turned away, writing.

"I'm quite good at it, thank you very much." She could almost hear his nodding through the silence. Composing herself post frowning, she scanned him one final time with her glowing palms.

"Alright. You're clear." She tore off a sheet of paper and handing it to him.

"Bring this to Lady Tsunade."

He put his shirt back on and Sakura saw him go to open his mouth, but as she heard him the door was already closing behind her.

"-see you."

She practically staggered into a nearby broom closet and slammed the door behind her. She sank down and let out a long breath she didn't know she was holding. Banging her head back against the door she fought back the nausea in her. Stress causing nausea was an extremely inconvenient quirk.

Five long breaths later and Sakura had considered the entire situation. She had kept her cool with her… well she hadn't really determined what he was. Sasuke wasn't a friend. Friends didn't do what he did. Friends didn't leave crying girls on benches after thanking them for heaven knows what. He wasn't a traitor. At least not anymore. Hell, Tsunade had cleared him. And as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't call him after. Not after they had been teammates. She practically threw up right then and there at the thought of calling him a teammate.

Sasuke had never been a teammate. Teammates didn't abandon their team. They didn't join up with the villages greatest enemy and they certainly didn't return to the village as if nothing was wrong. The whole damn situation was absurd. Why had Tsunade let him back so easily? What bargaining chip did he have? She shook her head, it didn't matter.

 _Well_ , started an inner part of her _. It actually kinda does. If it was a prisoner of war. Or if he killed someone, it'll certainly come up in your diplomat mission._

Sakura shrugged off her inner self. She wasn't supposed to being worrying about diplomacy right now. And she certainly wasn't supposed to be worried about a dumb boy. She had patients to see for heaven's sake.

Now thoroughly annoyed on top of her waning coffee buzz, Sakura flung open the door and stalked off to the next patients room. She had a job to do.

* * *

Sakura cursed the fact she was being sent to the western border since that is exactly where two people she was absolutely _not_ avoiding were. But, like any good soldier she followed orders. It helped that Neji was there to travel back with her. Minimally, his company was always appreciated. Even if he was an awful jerk.

"You know, you would be more efficient if you emitted about twenty percent less chakra to your feet."

Sakura glared at the unwelcome advice.

"I'm amazing at chakra control. I think I've got this." Though, judging by how sore her heels were already, he may have had a point.

"You understand I see your chakra flow, correct?"

Sakura chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry."

"Get the stick out of your ass."

"Consider it removed, you jerk." Usually, she'd be up in arms and leaving a delightful bruise on his skull, but he had a point.

"You're stressed."

"We're all stressed. War- I'm sorry- police action, isn't exactly relaxing. Especially for us." Neji shrugged and hummed.

Sakura did reduce the flow of chakra to her feet and she tried to hide the sigh of relief as the pressure on her heels stopped. She also continued to ignore Neji's smug face because the man missed anything with those dang eyes of his.

But here she was, messing up basic chakra control because some…people had come home. Or maybe it was the fact she was determined to get to the base tonight so they weren't stopping despite the setting sun. Darkness was unsettling, but Neji was the perfect asset in the dark.

Or a sharingan would do. But Sakura didn't really care about that. Not even a little.

* * *

Lee always gave her a run for her money when they trained. He'd been the first person she'd reached out to when she needed to get better at basic taijutsu. Smashing the earth and people into smithereens was delightful, if you could land a punch. And three years ago, she certainly couldn't land a punch.

Today, she nailed him with a right hook. He flew several feet to the left, but he caught himself.

"You're always a sly one, Sakura! But I will not be bested today!"

Sakura huffed a few times and she certainly believed him. The boy could go for hours, and her stamina was fine, but his was outstanding. Believing him or not, she rolled her shoulders. She wasn't about to lose without a fight.

"Then you better get it together, Lee. I won't hold back next time."

Lee was suddenly nearly nose to nose with her, but she knew better and was under his jab before he could land it. And with a juke to the right, she tried for a roundhouse. It was blocked so easily it was pathetic. God, she needed to land something now or her muscles were going to turn to mush.

They'd been at this for fifteen minutes. Unheard of. Shinobi battles lasted ten minutes tops. And here. It was just taijutsu, but _still_. Lee was a beast.

"Woah, Sakura! Where'd you learn to do that?" Her head snapped over to the cheery voice. She still wasn't used to it.

Ceasing the moment, Lee was on top of her, his forearm on her neck. She groaned and went limp, yielding. Lee extended a hand to help her up while beaming at Naruto.

"Naruto! And is that Sasuke there? Ah, good to see you! Are you training?"

"Yeah! I just kicked his ass-"

"Shut up, it was a draw." Sakura rolled her eyes as the boys glared at each other.

"But, Sakura! Where'd you learn to move like that?" Naruto's eyes shown with such an innocent wonder that Sakura found the urge to punch him. He didn't know that she'd been training. Not that he'd bother to find out.

Tenten was having none of Sakura's contemplation.

"If you bothered to be here or write, you'd know!" Tenten had clearly finished her spar with Neji, who was glaring aggressively at Sasuke.

"Hey! I'm back now!" Naruto pointed at her accusingly. Sakura glanced back and forth between the two, but Tenten shrugged.

"Some good that does. And you brought back a traitor-"

"Enough! We are all part of the same team on this base! We must act like it." Sakura shrugged, she wasn't disagreeing with Lee, but wasn't about to jump for joy at being put on in the same group.

Everyone stayed silent and Sakura cracked her neck and spun around, throwing one last comment over her shoulder. "I have a shift at the medic tent. Good to see you guys."

Team nine caught and relished in her tone, her sickly sweet diplomatic tone, but Sasuke and Naruto just stared dumbly at the flurry of cherry blossoms on the ground. One thing was for sure, Sakura knew how to make an exit.

* * *

Tsunade knew she would probably need new drywall after today with how she was hurling things left and right. Sand was their only ally right now. The small villages were refusing to get involved and Stone and Mist were both closing in. Nearly seventy percent of her chunin where on the western border to help Sand fend off Stone. She'd even sent a few genin in for more leisurely duties. The stone ninja were dangerous, but nothing large numbers couldn't handle.

And nearly all of her jonin that were either on the Eastern border with another twenty five percent of her chunin or leading squads on the western border. The mist shinobi were strong, but they weren't plentiful. It was nothing a few elite jonin couldn't handle. Her strategy had been flawless. Her forces alone should have been enough to limit causalities on their own and certainly with sand forces, no one should be taken prisoner.

So, Tsunade needed ten good reasons why a jonin had been taken prisoner. And she needed fourteen more reasons as to how it happened to be the Kazekage's sister to be taken prisoner, while leading a mission composed of only leaf shinobi. Tsunade didn't blame Gaara for thinking they had abandoned her. Relations between Sand and Leaf were still on thin ice. She knew her ninja had more honor than that, but it definitely didn't look good from the outside.

She held her head in her hands as she waited for Shikaku to get to her office. There wasn't a diplomat on the planet that could smooth things over with Gaara at this rate. They had to figure out how to get Temari back, or their alliance with Sand was over.

And her day didn't get better when the wrong Nara stormed into her office. Hell, he was supposed to be at the western border. What is god's name was he doing in Konoha?

"Apologies, Lady Hokage. I tried to stop him, but-"

"You probably didn't try that hard." Shikaku shrugged as he leaned against the doorway.

"I have a plan to rescue Temari." Tsunade turned her attention to the unusually spunky Shikamaru.

Leaning her hands on her knuckles she sighed. "Spit it out, time is of the essence." She'd take all the help she could get right now.

* * *

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the response I've gotten so far. It is amazing! Please keep it up because I appreciate it so much. I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 2. Hopefully it's starting to shine more light on what exactly is going on in the shinobi world a little more.

Let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading! :D

Btw, I don't want you guys to get too spoiled with daily updates. They'll probably be closer to weekly due to my work load right now. Hope you understand!


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

* * *

Actually having shifts that didn't interrupt breakfast was certainly an interesting change of pace for Sakura. Though she quickly remembered why meals next to over a hundred people was exhausting. The gossip was insane, but honestly, part of her relished in it.

"Shikamaru _left._ " Tenten flailed her arms dramatically, nearly hitting Lee with her bagel.

"Shikamaru! He wouldn't just leave! That's cause of treason!" Lee was aghast, and not just by the fact he was nearly assaulted by a pastry.

Sakura gnawed into her apple. It certainly was unlike Shikamaru to act so rashly. Or act at all, really. The man's motivation had increased some, but he was no self-starter.

"Well, didn't a Sand nin get taken prisoner?"

Neji joining in on the gossip was an interesting matter, but one of the Konoha 12 potentially committing treason definitely was some juicy gossip. Though possible treasonous acts seemed to be far too common among their group.

"Yeah, apparently she was captaining a group of our own." Tenten nodded in agreement and the dots began to connect in Sakura's brain. A sand ninja. A girl sand ninja. And Shikamaru.

"It wasn't Temari was it?" Sakura's mouth went dry. If it was, that was _bad_.

"The Kazekage's sister? No way! No one would ever – would they?" Tenten seemed equally concerned.

"Talk about a bargaining chip." Neji's voice was as calm as ever, but he hadn't looked up from his plate.

"Hey guys!" Again, that cheery voice.

Naruto was followed by Sasuke, who seemed to have taken to attaching himself to Naruto. Sakura's brow furrowed as she considered Sasuke following Naruto around like a lost puppy and bit her lip to suppress the poorly timed snicker threatening to escape.

"Good to eat with you all. My shift starts soon, so I'll be off."

"Doesn't your shift start at-"

Sakura clapped a hand down on Tenten's shoulder, smiling. "Soon. It starts soon." Tenten grinned and gave a knowing nod as Sakura walked away.

* * *

Sakura's hands were raw from all the scrubbing. One would think there would be a better way to disinfect that didn't involve rubbing ones hands raw before and after surgery, but alas, red, dry hands were a way of life at this point.

Luckily, surgery was done for the day and she had been called in for one last patient. Apparently, he refused to see anyone else. Sakura let her hair out its clip, rubbing her scalp. She really preferred it down, but it got in the way during surgery. Opening the door, she tried to be surprised, but the list of people who would demand her presence solely was short.

"Naruto!" Sakura rolled her eyes at his limp arm as he sat on the patient table.

"Hey Sakura! I – uh- my shoulder here-"

Sakura swatted his hand away as he went to move his hand around the injured area. "Don't touch it. You'll make it worse."

Her hands glowed green and she frowned. It had been dislocated, but surprisingly was already healing.

"So, what have you been up to today?"

Sakura glanced up at him. "I ate breakfast, then came here." She went back to work, but could feel his expectant gaze boring into her side.

"What have you been up to?" Something about Naruto was so warm that she just felt the need to satiate him. She frowned remembering all the times she spent her childhood thinking he was a useless idiot. The boy was certainly an idiot, but not useless.

"Well, I had a watch shift after breakfast and then I trained with Sasuke and well now I'm here."

"Hmm… how did this happen?" Sakura twisted his shoulder back into place, and tried to feel bad about his yelp of pain.

"Well, Sasuke landed on my arm when I tried to trip him after our spar."

Sakura stopped and backed up to look him in the eye. "Naruto, you're an awful liar."

"I'm not lying!" Sakura raised her brows at him and the way his eyes shifted and ears reddened only grew.

"Did you do this on purpose?"

"Well you're not talking to us!" Sakura leaned against the counter and sighed.

"So, you injured yourself? Why don't you try actually speaking with me?"

"We have! And you just went away!"

Sakura crossed her arms. "Fine. Talk."

"Why are you angry?"

"On second thought-" Sakura pushed off the counter and went back to healing some of the muscles.

"-let's talk after dinner. Meet me by the west wall. I am not doing this right now."

Sakura barely waited for a nod before she flew out the door. She swallowed to try and relieve her dry mouth. She had a thousand feelings to settle over dinner and about an hour to do it. She growled as she headed to her tent, completely intent on skipping dinner altogether. There could be no after dinner if she never had dinner, right?

She could help but roll her eyes at her own excuses. That was just plain rude.

 _So is not writing back to people's letters_ , her inner self spat.

As always, her inner self was full of wisdom and spite. She kicked off her sandals and laid in her bed, enjoying the way the sun filtered through the grey linen of the tent. She did care about Naruto, but he had left because he wanted to get stronger. And she could understand that. But why couldn't they get stronger together? Why couldn't he stay and train with Jiraya here? She groaned and turned, banging her face into her pillow. This was going to be a pain.

* * *

Naruto was already leaning against the wall of the base when she arrived. His ability to arrive early to anything at all lately was impressive considering the track record before he left.

"Do you want to know why I'm mad?" She spewed the words before she even considered a greeting.

He seemed to recoil at her tone. "I mean, yeah." He seemed to gesture to the spot as if that's why he had come.

"You _left_ me. Why did you have to leave me to train? We could have trained together! Gotten stronger together! Remember when I promised I'd never be a burden again? I meant it! Why didn't you believe me?" Sakura slid down the wall she'd been leaning on and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"I couldn't train near people… it wasn't safe. I had to go." Naruto was speaking so softly Sakura looked toward him in concern.

"Not safe? Why wouldn't it be safe? I don't get it." Sakura glanced over to see Naruto had taken a stance similar to her own, but had moved a foot or two away.

"You don't know? I thought you would have figured it out."

The gears in her head were whirring. Why would he need to train away for it to be safe? What could pose that great of a threat? Once in ANBU she had been briefed on a substantial amount of secrets. And the only one that would make sense would be the nine-tails. And _that_ was ridiculous. The nine tails was evil. It has massive power. And energy… constant energy. She gulped. And rapid healing abilities. Her mind flashed to his muscles earlier and how they had begun to heal on their own. And if released, due to extraneous activity…like intense training… could be detrimental to the village.

She looked at him. "You're…a jinchuriki?"

Naruto shrugged and nodded. Sakura's mind immediately flashed to Gaara and their battle. Pieces were falling into places she didn't know she had missing. For a moment, a brief one, horror washed through her. Gaara had nearly killed her when he'd been taken over, but now he was Kazekage. An excellent one.

She banged her head back against the wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Naruto shrugged again. "Village secret stuff."

Sakura chuckled, which spiraled into a laugh. A rather maniacal one, frankly. Naruto glanced over at her, having grown sheepish and cracked a small, and as he saw Sakura try to compose herself, he laughed harder.

"Village secret stuff," she managed to choke out. "You call being the nine-tails jinchurki _village secret stuff_. And you want to be the Hokage. You're an idiot, oh my god."

She brushed away some tears that had leaked out, which were definitely only from laughter. Definitely.

"I might be the idiot. I was so mad." The weight Sakura had been expecting to lift with lashing out, seemed to ease with her laughter. He hadn't wanted to leave after all. But that didn't explain…

"Wait- but why didn't you write?" Sakura's nose scrunched in annoyance.

Naruto scratched his head. "Well – uh. I lost that one letter you sent when I was practing this jutsu. It got all torn up and well I also just didn't know what to say. I know I should've said something, well anything. But well, ya know? I'm just not the best at that sorta thing."

Sakura spared him one last glare, but the small smile on her face made it a lot less fierce than she wished.

"You're still not totally forgiven."

Naruto held out a hand to her, grinning ear to ear. "But we can talk now, right?"

Taking his hand, Sakura shrugged. "I'll think about it."

Despite what she said, they talked all the way back to her tent. Maybe tomorrow she could continue being mad, but tonight it was nice to have one of her best friends back.

* * *

Being called to the Kakashi's tent just after dawn was not Sakura's favorite way to start the morning. Being called there at any time of the day was never good, let alone before breakfast. Seeing two other people in the office made it both worse and better. At least whatever she did, she didn't commit the crime alone.

Yet, seeing Shikamaru, the man who had supposedly abandoned the base recently, standing in the room was certainly enough to fully awaken Sakura.

"Shikamaru! I thought you had left!" She immediately shot Neji, who was lurking in the corner of the tent, a glare.

Kakashi leaned forward and sighed. "Oh, he did. But," a smile crept into Kakashi's eyes. "He developed an excellent method to assist our victory, so he will be evading punishment."

Shikamaru shrugged. And Kakashi sighed at the silence.

"I will explain, then. Temari, the Kazekage's sister and jonin was taken prisoner. You three are going to retrieve her."

"It is a well-balanced team."

Neji was right. Shikamaru was a long-range fighter. Neji was an excellent sensor and extremely deadly in close combat. Sakura was also proficient in close combat, but was also excellent with poisons and medical ninjutsu. And they were also above-average strategists. For a retrieval mission, they would be productive.

"So how much do we know about the people that took her?"

Shikamaru nodded for Sakura to sit at the table near him with him and Neji.

"Stone ninja. Easily high chunin level, maybe one or two jonin. Six of them."

Neji nodded. "So, what do we know about where she's being kept?"

"That's where I come in." A gruff voice from by Sakura's ankle spoke up.

"Pakkun! Good to see you!" Sakura smiled and gave the pug a courtesy ear scratch. Anything more would be rude, but she knew he secretly relished in it.

"We won't like have anything with her scent. She didn't frequent here. And the Kazekage likely isn't-" Neji was interrupted by a scarf being dropped onto the table.

"Shikamaru! You finally made-"

"We were just discussing strategy, Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Those two had been pining after each other for years. And it sure seemed likely people planning strategy together left scarves they tied around their waist at each other's tent. That made complete sense.

"Some strategy that must have been," Neji said, seemingly focused on Shikamaru's reddening ears.

"Focus, kids. This isn't gonna be easy." Pakkun laid down, knowing with the way Shikamaru's strategies went, he was going to be listening for a while.

"Alright. This is how it'll go."

Honestly, it wasn't that complex. In fact, it was a little vague for Sakura's tastes. There were too many missing pieces. This was a downright suicide mission. But then again, not retrieving Temari was a certain loss in this war. And that was murderous.

"Meet back here in before noon." And with Kakashi's dismissal, they were off.

* * *

There was a time Sakura had despised the ANBU gear. The adjustment period her commander had warned her about had been real. By the end of your first mission, the stench of death stuck to it. No matter how often Sakura washed it, there was the brassy smell of blood and sterile smell from all her poisons and medical equipment.

But now, she relished in it. From the tattoo she only got to show off when wearing it, to the arm guards which still had blood in places she couldn't get out, this gear made her Konoha's Cobra. One of the most notorious criminals on the opposite side of the war.

She checked her pack one final time for all the poisons necessary, and then their antidotes. She had extra kunai and shuriken. Not that she preferred to use it but her tanto was available in case she needed it. Slipping on her mask, she took a long breath, centering herself.

Channeling herself into a killer instead of a healer required a few more moments than she wished, but she supposed not stomping out all her values was for her the best. After all, she wanted to leave ANBU someday.

 _Save as many Allies a possible, no matter what the cost._ She ran through the phrase several times, until she found herself in the proper headspace.

With a simple handsign, she was back in Kakashi's tent. She relished in Kakashi's face for a short moment. Her participation in ANBU had been revealed to him, but her exact mask, not likely.

"Cobra…interesting. I suppose I should thank you personally for your assassination of the general a week or so ago."

Sakura grinned, not that he could see it. "A day's work."

"Don't be cocky, Cobra." Neji had apparently ducked into the tent recently. "I was there too."

Kakashi turned his attention to Shikamaru. "Did you know which ANBU they were when you chose them?"

"It wasn't that hard. I knew I wanted Sakura, Cobra, and Neji. I just got lucky in my tracking of who Cobra could be that two of them were the same person."

Shikamaru's hands were in his pockets and he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. Sakura supposed if someone near to her had been taken, she wouldn't be getting much rest either. She also didn't fail to notice he had wanted not only Cobra on his team, but her. Just her, without the ANBU. It was probably for her medical skills, but still. It was satisfying.

"Well, are we going or not?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're always so impatient, Swan."

Neji's eye roll could probably be felt across the camp. Alas, he had a point and with a small signal from Shikamaru, they had flickered to a tree line outside of the base. Sakura rolled her shoulders and drew chakra to her feet. They had over a day's worth of traveling to get close to Temari's approximate location and Sakura was not trying to make it take longer than needed.

* * *

A/N: And that's Chapter Three! I hope you all enjoyed. I liked writing Sakura and Naruto's moments. I know some of you didn't want them to make up, but it's Naruto for heavens sake. And like she said, he's not fully forgiven.

Heart: She was 'not disagreeing' with Lee saying they were all teammates. I was implying she knew Lee was right, but she wasn't happy about it. Thank you for all your reviews!

Thank you everyone for all your support thus far, it has been AMAZING. Please continue to let me know what you think in reviews, I've loved discussing things with you guys!

Thanks for reading! :D


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

* * *

Stone ninja certainly knew how to build a fortress and better yet, they knew how to hide it. Unfortunately for them if there was one thing Konoha was excellent at, it was tracking and infiltration. Between the Inuzuka and Hyuuga clans, one would be better off hiding in plain sight with Leaf ninja on their tails. Instead of in a man-made cave just off a cliff. Now, the fact they could find someone and get in, didn't necessary mean Leaf ninja always got them out.

That was the key to a retrieval mission. Getting in meant nothing if the target wasn't retrieved and delivered to safety. And holy crap were the Stone ninja conscious of this fact. As Neji drew out the layout and the traps he could see, Sakura had never seen such an intricate array of traps in her life. Though, considering Temari's kidnapping was an assurance of the Sand and Leaf ending their alliance, it was reasonable to guard her so well.

Shikamaru's hands were in a circle as he stood analyzing the sheet of paper. All the foresight in the world still didn't guarantee them a sure shot. It helped, but still.

"Anywhere we can go a get a clear shot in and out?" Sakura was staring at the paper and every time she thought she saw a path there was either a guard or trap which would alert the ninja of their arrival.

Neji's fingers tapped a path that actually seemed clear. "Here. If we maneuver properly. And assume all that's here is all that there is."

"I don't like to assume." Shikamaru's brow furrowed and he glared at the piece of paper.

"None of us like to assume. But this is what we've got." Sakura was trying to patient, but they had been scouting for seven hours now. They had all the information they were getting and they needed a plan.

"Neji. What's behind the cave?"

"Rock."

Shikamaru gave a long sigh. " _Behind_ the rock. Seriously?"

"That was a dumb question." Neji spat back. However, activating his byakugan, he scanned the area.

"A canyon. With a small river. To the west."

"How far?"

"Hundred yards."

"You sure?"

"About a hundred yards. Do I look like a yard stick?" Clearly the heat and pent up energy was getting to them all.

Thankfully, Shikamaru's hands finally left their circular positioning and he sighed. "Alright. I have an idea."

Sakura stared at the completed product and shook her head. "This is suicide."

"And homicide." Neji agreed.

Shikamaru frowned. "I'm aware. But the other way is certain death. We're outnumbered. So we just have to make another entrance."

"By collapsing a cave on our target?" Neji was still unconvinced despite having helped with set up.

"Near the target. Look, the rest of the cave is infused with chakra. They didn't think to infuse behind it to sense us. By the time we do, we'll have retrieved her."

"Assuming we have not killed her. I've seen your file, you did poorly in math."

"Enough." Sakura's patience was really getting tested. "Are you doing it or not?"

"Are you?" Sakura knew that look even not being able to see it through his mask. They'd be on several missions together and they had survived several times due to her quick judgment. Sakura glanced down the small crack Shikamaru's shadow had dug and placed several exploding tags down.

It was only supposed to leave five feet of rock between where the last explosion would end and the wall to Temari's prison would begin. Five feet was not a lot of room for error. Sakura took a second to look at Shikamaru, who if not for the way his thumb fumbled with the edge of his pocket, seemed like the picture of calm. They had to save Temari, or die trying. And going through the front was not an option.

"I am." Sakura took two steps back, ready to brace for the blasts. And ready to run.

Shikamaru waited only until Neji mirrored Sakura and held up a simple hand sign. "Kai."

And hell seemed to break lose. Flames, smoke, rocks and dust flew into the air. But Sakura hadn't made it this far in life by being scared of a few flying rocks. And she certainly wasn't known for her self-preservation. She ran into the newly blasted hole as she heard the rapid succession of explosions. The rocks were hot as they nicked her skin and one particularly large one nailed her thigh, causing a stumble. She coughed as she took in several breaths of smoke and dust. Only a little further if she remembered correctly.

Solid wall was painful to be run into, but Sakura didn't have time to assess whether or not she had a head injury. Temari was five feet away. She winded back her fist and punched, hearing the sound of feet running past her as her fist finished connecting.

She ran a glowing palm over her eyes to take the dust out, running in blind was one thing. There was only one way to go. Now, running out blind? That was ludicrous. Neji spun and freed a limp Temari as Shikamaru held back three guards who had seemed to finally recover from the invasion.

Neji nodded in affirmation as he sprinted out. Target was acquired. Check. Was the target in good shape? Probably not, but as Sakura noted Shikamaru's beads of sweat and the fact that there were probably more shinobi on the way, she had bigger things to worry about.

Sakura grinned to Shikamaru and he nodded. She threw down a ball and they were off. She dug a vial into her thigh as she ran. Just in case she wasn't very good at holding her breath. When they finally were back out in the sun, Sakura noticed the wheezing to her left. Apparently Shikamaru wasn't exactly best at breath holding either.

"Here." She tossed him another vial. "Antidote."

"Thanks." He fumbled with it for a moment, causing him to stop. Sakura frowned, apparently injecting medicine while running wasn't exactly a common skill.

"We have a half day run ahead of us. But luckily we have a lead." Sakura popped a soldier pill. They had been going for a day and a half now. But that's why they were the elite. Genin took breaks, ANBU got the job done.

"I'm not too worried about it." Sakura resisted the urge to retort she pushed off a branch, one should always be worried.

As they pushed off for the first four hours, Sakura was pretty sure her poison may have a bit too effective. It had left Shikamaru wheezing with minimal inhalation only minutes after. The entire base was possibly decimated. She glanced at Shikamaru, realizing why his concern was so low.

"You knew the bomb would take the whole base."

Shikamaru shrugged and smirked. "Hoped so."

Sakura shook her head and allowed herself to slow. She'd be lying if she said her legs didn't ache. "And somehow I'm notorious."

"Cobra is still the one who set the bomb." Sakura rolled her eyes. He had a point, her kill count only increased with this mission – delightful.

Just on the other side of the border, Neji had set up camp in a clearing. Temari was laid down with a towel on her forehead. Without even checking her insides, Sakura knew they were in trouble. She was clearly badly beaten, but that wasn't the issue. Her sweaty and feverish shakes were. And the way her skin was pale and her finger tips and lips were turning purple made her shake her head.

Sakura felt vaguely bad for reaching Temari before Shikamaru, but then she remembered she was saving her life for him and the feeling vanished. The pounding in her head was getting stronger and she was becoming concerned she may have a concussion, but concussions didn't usually kill people. Whatever was in Temari? It probably did.

"What is she? Sick?"

Sakura glanced up at the Shikamaru's face as it dropped and his brow knitted, kneeling on the opposite side of her.

"I'm trying to figure it out. Pass me a soldier pill and let's figure it out. She's in bad shape." She ran her glowing hands over the body and her suspicions were correct. Temari was sick alright, if one could call poisoned sick. It was slow acting at least, but it was still wreaking havoc on her system.

It didn't take Sakura long to extract the poison, but it did take her a while to heal the damage it had done. Nearly two and a half hours later and she leaned back, pulling out a scroll. She scribbled on it and tossed it to Shikamaru.

"Here. Take this and her to Sand."

Shikamaru blinked for a moment. "She's fine?"

"If you get that to one of their medics, yeah. She's fine for now, but still needs and antidote. The instructions are in the scroll."

Shikamaru nodded and picked up the still unconscious Temari.

"Thank you, Sak- Cobra."

"Mhm. Oh and Shikamaru? Can I trust you to make sure our alliance with Sand is secure?"

With a strong nod, Shikamaru was off in a flash.

Sakura didn't waste any time flopping onto the ground. Neji stirred from his slumber and peered at his teammate.

"Get some rest. I'll take watch."

Sakura groaned. "I should really get to Kona-"

"You've been going for nearly forty-eight hours straight. Get at least a few hours."

Normally Sakura would try to resist, but her head as pounding and her muscles were aching. Without even bothering to pull out her sleep sack, Sakura turned on her side and found herself asleep in seconds. Even notorious ANBU need rest.

"You killed twenty-two confirmed!" Tsunade held her head in her hands. "This was supposed to be quiet!"

"It was Shikamaru's idea. And well, we saved her, didn't we?" Sakura wasn't used to failure. Sure, they completed the mission, but they certainly had made a show out of it.

"Yes, and saved us from losing an alliance – if we survive the retaliation!" Tsunade glanced back down at the mission report.

"It's like reading a how – not – to – retrieve mission! You literally blasted a hole into a canyon. You changed the godforsaken landscape! And then a poison _bomb_. Seriously! What did you three not understand about retrieve her quietly!"

"I apologize Lady Hokage. I will perform better next time," Sakura drawled and smiled as pleasantly as she could. Maybe, just maybe, her schmoozing techniques would work here.

"Oh bah! Perform better next time! Stop it with all that crap. You relished in the action! Don't lie to me!"

As expected, schmoozing was ineffective with Tsunade.

Sakura tried her best to not grin. Something about running through explosions and punching through a wall _was_ fun. And the looks on the enemies' faces when they tried to run from rubble but were caught in Shikamaru's jutsu? _Priceless_. Serves them right after what they did to Temari.

Tsunade sighed and shook her head one more time. "At least you succeeded. Now get out and head back to the western front."

Sakura bowed and retreated. She didn't miss the grin on her master's face, however, as she backed out of the room.

Sakura nibbled on a sandwich as she at lunch with Neji and Naruto in the training grounds. Somehow Naruto had shown up to join them for conditioning after breakfast, and never left. Neji didn't seem to mind much and neither did Sakura so they accepted the new addition to their plans. With Sasuke gone on a mission, Naruto seemed short of training partners.

Shikamaru hadn't come back from Sand yet and Lee was off a mission with Tenten. And Naruto's friend bucket for the Western Front had run dry, save for Sakura, so he had plopped himself onto their training ground.

"Did you guys hear what Cobra did the other day!" Sakura exchanged a brief glance with Neji and tried to look interested.

"Twenty-two kills! Twenty-two! With a poison bomb! The guy blew a whole into a canyon with Shikamaru. I'd kill to go on a mission with him. Man's a genius."

Sakura nearly choked on her sandwich. She wasn't sure if she was more offended that she was called a man or amused that Neji, or Swan in that case, was being completely left out of the tale.

"Well then you'd have to be strong enough to be on an ANBU mission." Neji smirked playfully, which caught Sakura as off guard as Naruto's comment.

"I submitted an application! If they let _you_ in, they'll definitely let me in."

Neji's ANBU status was not a secret, unlike Sakura's. Lucky for him, being a part of it was a badge of honor instead of a bargaining chip against him. Sakura had made sure to wear clothing that covered he tattoo at all times. Even if the heat, it was worth it. Negotiating treaties while having to convince people to trust a member of a special operations unit? No, thank you.

"I might apply," Sakura said, finally composing herself. Neji's eye roll was obvious, and Sakura thanked god Naruto was relatively oblivious.

"I think it would be a bit out of character for you… I mean you save people, Sakura. I'm not sure an assassin would fit in." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, clearly trying to tread carefully and failing.

"I'm equally as able to kill as you. Especially if it saves more of our people's lives."

Sakura leaned back on her elbows, avoiding Neji's gaze. He had always disagreed with her motto. Somehow, after killing for so long, he had a change of heart a year ago where he decided to taking prisoners and leaving them simply incapacitated was better than killing.

Swan and Cobra didn't work well together in that sense considering Cobra rarely left survivors.

Naruto laughed, snapping Sakura back to reality.

"God, when did you get so morbid? It's like you've killed armies or somethin'." At Sakura's deadpan, Naruto's face dropped.

"You haven't, have you?"

Sakura forced a laugh. "No, weirdo. Like you said, I spent most of my time in the medic tents anyway. I don't really have a chance to raise my kill count."

Naruto jumped up and dusted himself off. "Well, I've got to head to guard duty. Later!"

As Naruto finally left earshot, Neji shook his head. "You're an awful liar."

"I'm taking advantage of the fact he trusts me to keep a secret. Sue me." Sakura closed her eyes and took a moment to appreciate the way the sun felt on her skin. It was warm and welcoming. So much better than the humid, wet heat she was used to.

"The way you manipulate people is going to bite you one day. It's how the world works."

"People make their own fate, Neji. We've discussed this." Sakura was getting really sick of being told exactly how she was supposed to live her life.

"I know, and right now, you're building an interesting road to walk down."

Sakura opened her eyes to glance at him. All she caught was his back as she gazed up at the sky. Maybe he was right and she was paving her way to hell. But, even if she ended up engulfed by flames, at least she saved countless lives across the way. Sure, twenty two men had to die to save Temari. But thousands of Fire Country citizens would have died if Sand's alliance fell through.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions after all.

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the mission! I tried my best to make it as visual as possible and action scenes are not usually my thing, so let me know how I did! I'm really challenging myself to write them.

I know some of you were a little upset Sakura is hanging out with Naruto so well, don't worry Team Seven is not all better yet. After all, she still hasn't made up with Sasuke yet. And we're not even sure if Team Seven is functional.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

* * *

Apparently, the drinking age was twenty, but Sakura had yet to be denied by a bartender. Maybe it was the fact no one cared enough to ask for ID. Maybe it was the fact shinobi were defending the village, so the bartenders didn't want to start trouble. Maybe it was that Sakura had boobs. Whatever the reason, Sakura was more than happy to take advantage of it.

The first time Tenten had suggested it, she'd vehemently refused. But, Tenten came back the next day relaxed and with some of juiciest gossip Sakura had ever heard. So, Sakura had decided she would just go with, after all she was just in it for the gossip, right? You didn't need to drink just because you were at the bar.

Yet, now Sakura had no issue throwing back shots with the best of them. When in Rome, right? Sakura leaned against the wall as she sat at the table listening to Tenten prod a few chunin about the front lines.

"We've taken another few miles of territory. Wow, so how many miles until we get to stone? Oh bah! Still so many."

Sakura grinned. At least they were advancing. It was hard to get straight answers about what was going on. According to Lee, who had heard from Gai, they were doing amazing in the East against Mist. Lee was convinced they'd rule the entire ocean in weeks. But, Lee was an eternal optimist. A connection of Sakura, well Jiraiya's, network suggested they were near decimation. But this source was known for having a flair for the dramatic.

Somewhere between all the exaggerations there had to be truth, right?

"Sakura!"

Sakura's head spun and she suddenly questioned whether or not dogs were allowed in bars. Then again, underage individuals weren't allowed in bars and here she was.

"Kiba! When did you get here!" Last she had heard, Kiba was at a camp about fifteen miles south dedicated to tracking.

She embraced him, and she picked her up and spun here. Sober Sakura would have clocked him, but drunk Sakura didn't really mind the ride. That is, until Kiba tried to grab her butt. Before he put her down she punched him across the bar.

"Touch me again, dog! I dare you!" Sakura wobbled just slightly as she caught herself from falling from the spin.

Tenten was at her side in a second. "Did he try to grab your ass?" Sakura nodded, still shaking her fist as half of the crowd stared at her.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Tenten yelled out to the staring crowd.

Sakura was bumped in the back by a large man and turned around to see the man she recognized as the bouncer. "Yeah, yeah. I'm outta here." She hated to admit it, but this wasn't the first time she'd been asked to leave for making a scene. It wasn't her fault men were often a disgrace to society and needed to be taught a lesson.

Part of her was happy to find her way into bed considering it was closer to dawn than she had expected.

Another part of her was not so happy when she awoke to a pecking on her temple. Sakura pried her eyes open and took the scroll from the vulture. She blinked the sun out of her eyes a few times. She really should patch that hole before rain comes in through it.

Sakura finally turned her attention to the words on the scroll and groaned, peeling herself out of bed. Turns out it wasn't going to be her day off after all.

Kakashi's tent was further away than she wanted and the sun way to aggressive considering she just woke up. She smoothed her hair as she walked because she hadn't had time to deal with it before she left since she was too busy vomiting.

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura tried her best to sound pleasant, but it honestly came more sarcastic than anything.

"Long night?"

"Something like that."

"Well, you're needed back in Konoha for a meeting."

Sakura tried her best not to seem annoyed, but meetings were pointless. They always ended up doing what Tsunade had planned to do anyway. What was the point of opinions if no one's mattered?

"How soon?"

"Two days." Sakura bowed and went to leave.

"Oh, and Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Try to vomit less all over camp, please." Sakura felt her ears heating as she nodded earnestly and ducked out. She had not vomited all over camp. Just in a few select areas…aggressively.

Sakura didn't take long to get her things together to go and start heading out of camp and back toward Konoha. After splashing an absurd amount of water onto her face, she finally looked like a respectable human being again.

She had almost made it out a camp when she heard her name.

"Sakura! Hey! Where ya goin'?" Sakura spun to see Naruto and put a hand up to wave, but froze at the fact Sasuke was next to him. Her mouth went dry as her back stiffened. Apparently he was home from his mission.

"Uh- off to Konoha. I have a meeting." Sakura tried to turn away, but Naruto kept talking.

"A meeting! About what? And all the way back home? Whew, that's a trek."

"A diplomat meeting."

Naruto frowned. "A what?"

"A diplomat is a someone who represents Konoha abroad." Sakura's head snapped as Sasuke had broken his silence.

"That's correct. I typically ensure alliances and help negotiate on behalf of the Leaf. So I really have-"

"Woah! So you've been traveling too?" Sakura pursed her lips at the 'too'. Yes, but she was serving her country, not herself.

"Something like that. Well, I must-" Naruto went to open his mouth, but Sasuke, who had always at least had aptitude for social cues, elbowed him and he closed it.

"-get going." Sakura spun on her heel and walked so quickly out of camp she was sure she left trails of dust behind her. But interacting with Naruto right now was still weird enough, but throwing Sasuke into the mix too? No, thank you. There's a fat chance in hell of her working with him ever again. Or at least for a decade.

 _Let him grovel a bit_ , her inner self offered and her normal self relished in the thought as she bounded toward Konoha. Uchiha Sasuke groveling to her? Now that would be a sight to behold.

* * *

Meetings were dreadfully boring and Sakura was happy to see Hanabi looking as bored as she was. Even the usually attentive heiress was fidgeting more than usual and was slouching ever so slightly. Sakura tried to be as subtle in her fidgeting, but twirling the ends of her hair was a little obnoxious.

"So, Sakura, what's your opinion?"

Sakura sat up and glanced around. Two of the diplomats had given long winded speeches against going to Land of Snow and attempting to have them join in an alliance with us despite their original neutrality. It was too cold and risky. We had never cooperated with them before and we certainly didn't trust them. And their ninja weren't even that plentiful. And then had spoken in circles and said everything at least fifteen different ways.

"I say we do it. It would make sense to force Stone into a two-front war if they attacked from the North. We seem to have enough power to at least send them some troops."

"What are we even going to do to convince them! We have nothing!" Sakura tried not to roll her eyes at the elder gentleman's outburst. He was always so passionate and alarmist. No wonder they never sent him anywhere anymore.

"The trading port is used heavily in Grass. We just took back Grass. If Earth takes it, it's not guaranteed they can use it. If they're allied with us, we can ensure their trade there," Hanabi said, but had barely moved a muscle.

Every time Sakura thought she was ruthless, Hanabi showed her up. She did not hesitate to threaten economically killing a country solely to ensure they stayed on their side. Despite technically still being 'in training' since she was so young, the woman was a force to reckon with.

Tsunade nodded. "Alright. Sakura, Hanabi, will you two head to Snow? I'll write them to expect you."

And that was how Sakura ended up freezing as she stood outside of the leader's building. Even in her warmest formalwear, she was dying. Hanabi seemed poised as ever, but Sakura could tell by the way her fingers rubbed against each other, that she was pining for warmth as well.

"Do they have heat in this godforsaken-" The door in front of them shifted and Sakura immediately clammed up, putting on her sweetest smile.

A smaller gentleman greeted them and took them through an elegant hallway which lead to a dining room which was only slightly warmer than the outdoors. Sakura cursed the fact women's formalwear wasn't warm and that she had decided to forgo extra undergarments to keep warm.

Sakura sat down at the long table as a young woman held out her chair. Hanabi sat on her right, but they both stood as a boisterous woman entered. Lady Fuyu waltzed in and the Konoha women gave her a bow and sat as she did.

"Ah! Good evening, ladies! It's always nice to have visitors all the way up here. Sakura, dear, how are you?"

"I'm quite well. Yourself, Lady Fuyu?"

She waved dramatically. "Fine, fine! And you! You must be Hyuga Hanabi! A pleasure to meet an heiress such as yourself. What brings you here? I typically don't have the pleasure of two people."

"Sakura is my mentor, of sorts," Hanabi explained. Her excessive blinking and the way she shifted made Sakura hold back a laugh. She'd forgotten to let Hanabi know how much of a character Snow's leader was. Frankly, she wasn't particularly fierce like a Hokage would be, but the ninja under her were fierce.

"Oh a mentor, how interesting. You have a pretty delightful one."

"Thank you, no need to flatter me." Sakura smiled and took a bite of her meal.

"Well," Lady Fuyu cut her piece of meat and placed it in her mouth before continuing. "I know you didn't come here just to exchange pleasantries." Her tone leveled and she raised her brows.

"After receiving your statement of neutrality, we wanted to meet with you in person to reconsider."

"I expected as much. I don't plan on reconsidering. A war is not something my nation needs right now."

"We completely understand. However, we would like to point out, this war will effect everything since several smaller countries are being taken. Remaining neutral becomes difficult with your trading partners are occupied."

"-or allied with specific nations," Hanabi added. She was right, of course.

"Hm, well. What's stopping me from allying with Stone? They have stronger numbers and are allied with Mist, who controls the Eastern seas. I see few pros to allying with the Leaf."

"We both know allying with Stone is a death sentence. The second you become useless, they can and will take you over, but you already know that." The smirk Sakura received in return was confirmation enough that she was right.

"So, if you ally with the leaf, we will protect you. You'll attack from the north, thinning their troops. And, we'll ensure your trade route through grass is unobscured." Sakura leaned into her palm.

Lady Fuyu smiled and shook her head in laughter. "Oh, you're lucky you're so insightful. Fine, as long as protection of our independence in ensured, consider us allies. I take it you've already drafted the paperwork?"

"Naturally." Hanabi pulled out a scroll and handed it over for Lady Fuyu to examine. Sakura smiled and continued to pick at her meal. The rest of the conversation was light and delightful.

* * *

Sakura slipped under the flap of Kakashi's tent and was pleased to see Jiraiya standing over the desk, but as finished scanning the room Sasuke was clearly in on the meeting as well. She frowned at his inclusion on anything important.

"Little Tsunade! Welcome, you!" Jiraiya grinned, as friendly as ever.

"I thought we both asked you to stop calling me that! We're not even alike!" Sakura rolled her eyes and bunched her fists. She really wasn't that much like Tsunade. She had her own set of skills in addition to healing and strength. She wasn't some doppelgänger.

"That temper would speak otherwise." He flinched at the way Sakura's eye began to twitch. "Anyhow, I think you have some good news for us."

Sasuke seemed to shift to listen to the report as well, but Sakura made sure to angle herself toward Kakashi and Jiraiya. His presence was irrelevant.

"You'd be right about that. Once Snow receives additional allied forces, they'll be deploying an attack on Stone from the North. That should help us immensely, considering we won't be the only ones fighting a two front war anymore."

"Isn't Sand attacking from the South?" Sasuke added, as intelligently as ever. Though, his facts were wrong.

" _Were_ attacking from the south. They lost a good deal of lives a month or so ago, and retreated. They're just maintaining the border now. So we have basically kept our attacks all coming from the west."

"Hn."

Sakura suddenly felt the urge to sock him. Something about this response, or lack thereof technically, set her off. She was trying to educate him and he had the nerve to simply grunt at her because he had been wrong? _Fine, two can be rude, Uchiha_ , she spat, mentally _._

As Kakashi couldn't feel her radiating killing intent, he smiled. "Well done, as usual, Sakura. We're just finishing a report about Sasuke's homecoming if you'd like to join."

Sakura had turned to exit before he could finish.

"I'd rather not."

She knew Sasuke was watching her leave, completely disinterested in his existence. And damn, it felt good.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was pretty eventful, I hope ya'll enjoyed it! I know some of you were worried about her forgiving Naruto so soon, but as you can see, they're not exactly chummy and best friends again. And well, zero progress has been made with Sasuke. So, don't worry too much about them making up so soon.

And I'm happy you guys like her friendship with Neji and the rest of Team 9 so much!

Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it is greatly appreciated!

Continue to let me know what you think in the reviews, please! Thank you!


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

* * *

The hit had shown up in a scroll for her two weeks ago. And it had her the entire time to establish a plan and create the correct array of poisons to take down someone so likely to be immune to basic ones. And now she stood in front of her target, but everything had gone wrong. It had been over a year since a mission had gone this bad.

She was out numbered, and alone this time. They had gotten the date they were moving wrong, so most of the people were still there. A poison bomb took care of some, but they weren't falling for that trick again. Apparently Stone issued gas masks now, on this man's orders. Taking down the next fourteen had been hard, but a few strategically placed punches had crushed the ones she couldn't kill directly. But, Kaede, the leader of a camp of soldiers wasn't going down. At least not without taking her with him.

The room they were in was crumbling and they stood several feet apart. His towering stature really should have made her nervous, but it was his lack of preservation that scared her most. Sakura had never met someone equally as ready to take down themselves just to win. And to lose that advantage only made her more nervous.

She gripped her kunai as her chest heaved. Sweat dripped down her back and she was only a little pissed her cloak had been ripped off, but at least her mask was in place.

"So, Cobra is a woman."

Sakura didn't bother to respond, he'd be antagonizing her the entire time. Bantering with him wouldn't do anything except piss her off more.

"You killed more of my men than I'd like to admit. I'm going to kill you, even if it kills me."

She gritted her teeth, he'd make that abundantly clear. The entire room was closed to the outside. Even if he did kill her, getting out of this would be nearly impossible. He'd have to nearly dig his way out. They couldn't punch their way out, the entire thing would collapse on them, killing them. There was no getting out of her without assistance from the outside and his men were either dead or retreating.

And Sakura hadn't called for backup, or even thought to. It had all happened so fast. She took a long breath and pocketed her kunai. She was going to have to kill him quickly. One kick or punch and he was dead. She just had to make sure to avoid the pillars.

Sakura darted forward and attacked him with a flurry of punches and a few kicks. He dodged them well. For someone so large, he was excellent on his feet. And then, there it was an opening. She threw her punch, but he stood proudly as she punched him. As he flew back she realized exactly what happened.

His body crashed into a pillar and the entire room began to shake. Through coughs of blood she saw him grin.

"There's no way out."

And as Sakura watched the first rock fall, he was right. She punched and kicked the rocks falling around her, but as she punched one another hit her square in her head and she felt the world spin.

This was it, she realized she collapsed to the ground. She wasn't sure if it was exhaustion, dehydration, blood loss, or head trauma, but she was going to die.

Sakura supposed she'd lived a nice life. She'd actually accomplished more than anyone had thought. Most didn't know she was Cobra, or know the ways she kept Konoha safe by negotiating treaties. But, they did know the people she saved as a medic. They knew all the names she kept off the memorial stone that way. She'd be remembered, at least for a little while and that was more than she'd expected when she started training three years ago.

The darkness was becoming clearer now, if that is such a thing. The blackness was sharp instead of foggy. But it wasn't quiet here. No, there was suddenly a lot of talking. Not just talking, yelling.

"That's her!"

Her? That's weird. No one should be here. She didn't call for any back up. But, then the noises faded too and Sakura was sure she was dreaming. Weird things happen when you're dying, she supposed.

* * *

 _Sakura flopped down after training with Tsunade and the woman frowned at her, berating her about 'what on Earth had gotten into her'. She was trying, she really was, but she couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke and Naruto today. They were gone and Sasuke was with an evil man and Naruto was traveling the world and he knew nothing about anything. They were going to die or never come back._

 _She tried to hold back the sobs, but as she went to pick up the next large rock, it slipped out of her hand. Of course, it slipped, she was a stupid weakling who couldn't do anything. Who was she to think she could pick up a rock? The sobs came choking out and her knees gave out. She didn't even care about humiliating herself anymore. Her existence as a kunoichi was humiliating and pathetic._

 _Tsunade clapped a hand on a shoulder and Sakura winced, knowing harsh words were coming._

" _Good work. We're done for the day. Let's get lunch together."_

Sakura stirred for a moment and the yelling was back. She couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear it.

"She moved!"

"I know, I felt her."

"She's alive!"

"I told you, I'm not letting her…"

And that was all she caught before the world was fuzz again.

 _Lee was so elegant when he trained. Despite his loudmouthed sayings, he was excellent at what he did. And she was clunky, at best. She wanted to move like that and so, mustering all of confidence and straightening herself she walked onto the grounds. Sakura asked him to train with her and make her better._

 _He looked so excited, and they began right then because neither of them really had any sense of boundaries. Lee was patient which was nice because Sakura's body never seemed as quick of a learner as her train. She understood the fighting styles, but her reflexes were awful. He knocked her down more times than she cared to admit, but he helped her back up so that was nice._

 _By the time they finished the sun was low in the sky and her entire body felt like jelly, but she felt it. She was learning. And the ice cream Lee offered to get with her wasn't a bad ending either._

Sakura could tell there were lights now and she could get eyes open a crack. White. A lot of it and she was moving. There was shouting again too. A familiar woman was yelling for people to get out of her way and to stay in the waiting area. That voice though, it was familiar. And so were the voices of protest, but through all the she couldn't place them.

 _The day Sakura had accomplished crushing the earth for the first time, there was no one to tell. And no had cared. And that was the day she had applied to ANBU. Today, after weeks of brutal testing, interviews and appointments, she received the letter. She was_ in _. She did it. This time, she knew exactly to tell first._

 _They were set to train together in thirty-five minutes, but he was always there early. She bounded out of her apartment, nearly leaving her front door open. She opted for the rooftops since the streets were so restrictive when you needed to move fast._

 _Leaping into the clearing of the training grounds the scroll hung open out of her hand and she was panting. Sakura couldn't even get the words out. He furrowed his brow, but the second he caught sight of the scroll, he smirked._

" _You're in, huh?"_

 _Sakura threw a fist in the air and yelled in joy. She felt her tears brimming, and she laughed, so excited she could barely contain it. She had trained here, in this training ground sixteen hours a day leading up to the exams._

 _Neji had been there for most of it and he'd received his acceptance scroll just two days ago. He smiled and walked up to her, laying down his kunai. She embraced him before she he had a chance to deny it._

 _She felt his head shake at the embrace, as he patted her back awkwardly. When she released Sakura scratched the back of her head._

" _Sorry, you know how I get." Neji's eyeroll was enough of a confirmation of exactly how aware he was of her overbearing tendancies._

" _Let's get dango. Training will always be here in the evening."_

 _Sakura grinned and followed him out of the training grounds. It was a special occasion after all if it meant Neji would skip training._

* * *

The smell was hospitals was distinct. It was sharp and sterile, but also musty like blood. Sakura knew exactly how much air freshener was used to cover up that blood smell, but no matter how much sterilization was done, it always shined through. Medical tents had a similar smell, but were always more humid.

Sakura shifted and opened her eyes, recognizing the deep green and bright white. She was in a medic tent presumably. She was alive. She blinked for a moment, adjusting her eyes to the blaring lights. How did they even get such bright lights in tents? It was ridiculous.

She turned her head to see long brown hair. Neji. She smiled a little. Someone was at her side.

"Hey." She spoke, but it came out so shallow she wasn't sure if was even going to hear her.

But, Neji didn't become a jonin because of lack of observation skills. He stiffened and turned to face her and a warmth washed over his face.

"You're up."

Sakura rolled her eyes, grinning. "Clearly."

Neji coughed, never one for sentimental moments. "Well, I'm sure Kakashi is going to want to know you're awake. He seems angry."

"Angry about what?"

"You didn't call for back up."

Sakura huffed and flopped back onto her pillow, instantly regretting the harsh movement.

"There wasn't time or else I would have."

Neji shrugged and left the room, though it took a while for his fingers to leave her forearm. She supposed she might have given him a scare. She took the clipboard from the side of her bed and winced at the words herself. Whether or not she was going to wake up at all had clearly been a question. Her blood and chakra loss had been huge, plus her head injury. It wasn't pretty.

"Sakura!" A bundle of orange and yellow plowed into her and she cursed heaven above as pain ran through her.

"Naruto! OW!"

He immediately recoiled and sat down next to her. She smiled at him, reassuringly. He hadn't meant to hurt her. The silence between them was so awkward Sakura was basically wishing him away if he wasn't going to say anything.

"I can't believe you're Cobra. The man- ah woman. You! You're like my idol. And it's you. There aren't two masks or anything, right?"

Sakura almost laughed, and was both offended and flattered at the same time.

"You can't say anything to anyone. Basically only you, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi know outside of advisors and other ANBU."

"Have you even seen your bingo book page! You have at least one hundred and five confirmed kills. Confirmed! You're killer with poison and your bounty is crazy. Half the world wants your head! I can't believe it!"

"Stop. That's not what it's about! I don't want to kill people – ugh. You wouldn't get it." Sakura frowned and turned to face the other way. It wasn't about kills or her bounty or infamy. It was about the fact that ever kill she made saved lives. Every time she killed an enemy, several of her allies lived because of it. She didn't kill just to get another number. That was sick.

"I didn't mean to say it like that. You accomplished a lot is what I mean. I didn't realize how much you did for everyone. I mean, some of your missions turned the tide of the war."

Sakura shrugged, but definitely felt a fire burn within her. She was going to fake indifference out of spite, but the pride she felt for saving so many people was immense.

"I guess I did alright."

Naruto leaned back in the chair and propped his hands behind his head. "You really can kick my ass now."

Sakura smiled. "I could your ass before, I don't need to be Cobra to do that."

Naruto laughed, but it was cut short by Kakashi popping into the tent.

"Yo. Good to see you're awake." Sakura's smile turned sheepish as her eyes darted.

"Can we have a moment, Naruto?" Naruto nodded and whisked himself out of the room with a thumbs up to Sakura.

"I know I should have called for back up. I know. But I didn't have time. By the time I knew I needed it there wasn't time and well, I don't know how I ended up-"

Kakashi held up a hand. "We received new information from an informant and I immediately sent a Neji and Naruto to back you up. That isn't what we need to speak about."

Sakura blinked for a moment, surprised, but nodded nonetheless. So, Naruto and Neji were the people who had saved her. She cringed at thinking about having to be saved, but at least she'd been the one to do damage, it wasn't like she was taken hostage.

"Do you want the good news or bad first?"

"Bad."

"Well, Lightening has allied with Stone and Mist." Sakura groaned. They'd sent in someone to try and negotiate apparently it was ineffective. "And, the person sent to negotiate with them was killed. Hence, it's now a war and not police action."

Sakura swore her heart skipped a beat even though she knew it wasn't possible. It had been one of the older diplomats sent. They weren't her favorite, but they certainly didn't deserve that. It could have been any of them, usually countries didn't attack them. It was an act of war. She made mental notes to be more watchful during meetings.

"Hence, we are now setting our sights on Sound. Which is run by two clans which are not always easy to communicate with."

The clans were notorious for being violent and difficult to communicate with. Orochimaru had subdued them some, but one had lived there for centuries and another had immigrated by the Mist village. The immigration had caused substantial tension at first, but apparently, they were collaborating with Orochimaru's absence.

"You are to sent to negotiating with them. Failure is not an option. It would good to note Jugo and Suigetsu will be two of the representatives sent. And they are former companions of Sasuke's."

"Are you implying I need to take Sasuke with?"

The news kept getting worse.

"I'm just saying he may be a vital resource to success-"

"I refuse." Sakura crossed her arms. There were plenty of diplomats available. Five others to be exact, who were fully trained and capable of handling this. It didn't have to be her.

"It's an order. We're not asking. You will be the most effective."

Sakura bit into her lip and sighed, her headache growing more painful with every second. Stress and an awful head injury would do that.

"What's the good news?"

"That will be your last diplomat mission-"

"That's not good news!" Sakura felt her heart drop. Was she being demoted due to getting injured? Had she not had good results? Did one of her treaties fall through?

"You are being promoted to ANBU captain. With this promotion, your participation in ANBU will be made public."

A captain. An ANBU captain. Sakura felt familiar tears prick the edge of her eyes. She had done it. Kakashi was damn right about this being good news.

* * *

A/N: I wrote this chapter (at least first half) a little more introspective than most of my chapters. So it was a little different than most of my other writing. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I definitely hope Sakura's development is a little more clear now.

This arc is winding down. There will probably be only two more chapters before we begin the next one (I'm expecting there to be about five-ish arcs?)

Anywho, reviews are greatly appreciated. I churned this guy out pretty fast because I was actually not busy and I felt bad last chapter was so darn short (shortest chapter followed by longest, at least).

Thank you so much for reading! :D


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

* * *

It was another two days before Sakura left the hospital. People came to visit her here and there, but only for five minutes at a time. Apparently they were advancing toward Stone, aggressively. They had put a tremendous amount of people in the northern front and pushed. But when Stone finally turned their attention to there, they sent specialized teams to tear them apart from the west. They god for Sand and their weird specializations.

Sakura appreciated the scrolls of updates from Shikamaru even though he never came to visit. He was on the inside and knew she'd need to be up to date now that she was a captain. Not that anyone knew she was a captain because she hadn't really had a chance to tell anyone. And not many people knew she was in ANBU anyway.

But today she was free and she was practically skipping toward Neji's tent. Usually he would be heading out to training around this time if he didn't have guard duty, but maybe she could catch him before. By the sound of the voices a few feet from his tent, he had headed out a little early and walked into an angry stranger.

"Why weren't you with her!" Sakura stopped and stayed out of sight at the sound of the angry voice. It wasn't loud, but it was sharp and it hurt every part of her to hear it.

"She can handle herself. She doesn't need to be babysat." Neji was exasperated. It only took Sakura two seconds to realize, she may be the 'she' of that conversation.

"Well, she almost died. Maybe she does need a team! She's not fit-" Sasuke's voice wasn't angry. It had a gross desperation to it the made Sakura's throat start swelling. But, she felt her own anger rise, she was fit to go on solo missions. _If only Sasuke knew_ , she frowned and started walking back out toward them. She had to intervene if not, neither was one to back down from a challenge.

"Don't act like you know anything, traitor. You left and she became better than you. You're just bitter about it."

"Oh hey, Neji!" Sakura grinned as she rounded the corner, playing dumb. She looked Sasuke over for a moment. She could see his clenched jaw now, but at the sight of her, at least his fists unclenched.

"I've got to go." Sasuke spun and stalked off, and part of Sakura was bitter she didn't get to tell him off for underestimating her. That was also the same part of her that got her kicked out of the bar regularly, so she took that with a grain of salt.

Neji turned to look at Sakura, his expression immediately softening as he saw she was whole and up and about. She was conscious.

"I don't think I thanked you for saving me." Sakura scratched the back of her head, and tried not to wince when she accidentally brushed her still-healing wound.

Neji shrugged, as nonchalant as ever. "I always have your back."

The thing she loved most about Neji was how well they were in synch. Their friendship was effortless and considering how hard she had to try with Ino and Naruto, and god, when she and Sasuke were friends it was always a battle, this was a breath of fresh air. She turned to move toward training and he was in step with her.

And the silence between them was delightful. It wasn't like walking with Ino or Naruto. The two were always blabbering about something, and frankly so was Sakura usually, but it was so nice to shut up sometimes and just enjoy the breeze. And when she and Sasuke had been friends it was always silence, a deafening painful silence and it had always made her anxious. The change of pace with Neji, and most of Team Nine, was a delight.

They reached the clearing and while silence was lovely, Sakura was ready to blurb out the news. "They'remakingmeacaptain."

Neji blinked at the way the words flew together, he grinned. "Excuse me?"

"Captain!" Sakura yelled and threw her arms around Neji in joy.

"Congrats," he laughed, patting her back. He was only slightly less awkward from the last time they embraced.

Sakura was still beaming when they parted, but she forced herself to calm down a little. She wasn't going to be very useful if she didn't get herself back into shape. She coud feel how the week off had drained her.

Three hours of conditioning later, Sakura was staring at the sky genuinely wondering how Neji was still standing. Her muscles felt like jello. At the thought of food, Sakura felt her mouth watering. She hadn't eaten in…well that certainly explained her lack of energy.

She peeled herself off the ground, groaning. "Lunch?" She was practically panting.

Neji raised his eyebrows and had the nerve to smirk. "Sure, captain."

Sakura pushed a weak punch into his arm.

"I can kick your ass even malnourished and you know it."

* * *

Tenten sat crossed legged from Sakura on the bed and was a little red. Whether it was from the heat or the alcohol was still debatable. A bottle of sake had appeared in Sakura's mailbox that was mysteriously Tsunade's favorite with a small note saying 'Congrats', and no signature.

Naturally, Sakura had dragged Tenten over for some well overdue girl time because the bar had become irritating and playing cards with the boys was boring. Plus, she hadn't done her nails in months and they really would look good with a coat of red.

Considering she was plenty intoxicated, the nails turned out okay with only little bit escaping her cuticles. Tenten had opted for a cute blue and executed it perfectly despite her drunkenness.

The second best part about not being at the bar was being able to interrogate Tenten about things she'd never talk about in public.

"So, what's up with you and Neji?"

"Absolutely nothing." Tenten groaned and absolutely not pouting at all.

"And that's a problem?" Sakura's grin was impish as she munched on a piece of popcorn.

Tenten huffed and snatched the bottle of sake, taking a swig. "I mean, yeah. No. But ugh. We're teammates. And that's it. He doesn't hang out with me like he hangs out with you."

Despite the drunken haze, Sakura had a brief moment of clarity. Tenten is implying that Neji likes her. Hyuga - royal pain in her ass, best friend, but definitely not about to make a move on her in anyway - Neji. Sakura tried to hold down the laughter billowing inside her, she really did, but sake did have a way of loosening her up.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!" Tenten chucked a foam toe-spreader at her and Sakura tried to slow her laughing with deep breathing.

"Tenten, Neji is obsessed with you. He's just too awkward to say anything."

Now, Tenten's redness was definitely not just from the sake. "No-no. He like. I mean he doesn't talk to me about normal stuff. And when he does it's barely anything. Like I once mentioned dancing and-"

"You think he's ready to dance with a girl? The two times I've hugged him, he stiffened like a board. How about you try lunch first?"

Tenten's face scrunched into a pout before she buried her face in a pillow and yelled.

Sakura tried not to keep laughing, really. But the thought of Neji tearing up the dance floor was definitely the highlight of her evening.

* * *

Sakura did everything in her power not to get up and leave when Sasuke sat down near her, Naruto, Lee and Neji during lunch. He only gave a head nod of a greeting, but that was enough to made Sakura wrinkle her nose and become extremely preoccupied with her beans.

Naruto rambled on about some mission he had been on where he and Kiba simply 'demolished' the enemy and he had gotten to use his toads. Sakura feigned her disinterest, but she had to admit the sight of the toads and Akamaru fighting side by side was pretty cool. Tsunade had taught her how to summon Katsuya, but she'd never had an opportunity to outside of training.

Neji eventually excused himself for guard duty and Naruto followed suit, suddenly remembering an important meeting he had to attend soon. It wasn't long after that Lee promptly left to train because Gai was back in camp and that was rare. Sakura's mouth was dry and she frankly didn't have an excuse to leave because right now her mission was concerned with the man five feet away from her, but every time she thought about asking him for help she got nauseous.

"I need-" Sakura clamped her mouth shut and she frowned, actually wanting to kick herself because now Sasuke was looking at her with a stupid deadpan. And with the way a ghost of a smirk danced on his face she must look incredibly idiotic.

 _You have literally faced death and been out numbered twenty to one. You have negotiated with criminals, Sakura. Get. It. Together._ Her inner self was screaming at the fact Sakura was lost from words. Apparently, a strange mix of fury, resentment, and perpetual awkwardness will leave one speechless at inconvenient times.

"Training." It was all Sakura managed to spit out and in that moment Sakura considered thirty-five different ways to die rather than listen to whatever condescending response was coming.

But, it never came. Sasuke shrugged and stood up.

"Let's go."

If Sakura didn't hate him so damn much, she swore she could kiss him for not making fun for her for not being able to find the words to ask him for help.

* * *

The best shinobi in the world don't connect with words. They connect with their fighting and actions. Or at least, that's what something in some of her books said. Considering she could barely speak she had decided to give it a try.

And by god, Sasuke was a rat bastard, but sparring with him was exhilarating. She clearly wasn't the only one who had learned from a Sannin because as much as she hated to admit, Sasuke was a force of nature. He was slightly faster than her, so she thanked god she was more agile because it was only her flexibility and swift footwork that saved her from several blows.

It took until about three minutes into the spar for him to activate him sharingan and that was new. A fire ignited inside Sakura because for the first time in her life, Uchiha Sasuke was taking her seriously. He must have noticed too because suddenly she had a burst of energy and she was a tornado flying at him. Her kicks and punches were un-blockable because of the chakra loaded behind them. She forced him to dodge and bend into positions she didn't know he could.

The fact that he used ninjutsu first what really got her. The fireball was not the defense she was expecting when he pushed back off the guard. Because who the hell breaths fire to defend themselves? Even though she dove out of the way and threw an exploding tag to try and divert his attention as she scrambled up, he is on her before she could release it. She frowned at the kunai to her throat.

"Stop straddling me." Suddenly words weren't so hard. Maybe spending all her nervous and hateful energy fighting only left her with good vibes. Though she wouldn't describe her tone as pleasant.

Sasuke actually had the nerve to roll his eyes at her and Sakura genuinely began to consider whether or not killing him was a viable excuse for not working with him on this mission.

"So, you know Suigetsu and Jugo." Sasuke squinted back at her, seeming only a bit confused, but Sakura was immediately side tracked by the fact Sasuke was still on top of her.

"And also – get off of me." Sasuke looked down, only partially mortified by the fact he was practically sitting on Sakura's hips.

Sasuke leaned against nearby tree and Sakura raised a brow at him as she sat up and hugged her knees. They were a nearly ten feet apart now and that was a better distance than his hips being two inches from hers.

"What of it?"

"They live in Sound." Sakura knew Sasuke wasn't stupid, annoying and a menace to her mental health, but not stupid. Frankly, Sakura prayed he'd put it together and she wouldn't have to actually ask him for help.

"Yeah."

Sakura found herself going through the list of ways to die instead of asking Sasuke to help her and going by one of her most fast acting poisons wasn't sounding like such a bad idea after all.

"I need you to join me on a diplomat mission."

Sasuke doesn't skip a beat.

"No."

Screw poisoning herself, she actually might murder him. Is it treason if she murders someone who had betrayed Konoha at one point?

"And why not?"

"I don't want to go back there." His voice sounded so genuine and Sakura realized exactly how human Sasuke was for the first time in years.

Sakura's face twisted and she chewed the inside of her cheek. She hadn't considered the fact that Sound might carry a few bad memories and that Sasuke may not want to relive those. For a moment, there was a twinge of pity in her and then a small burn of bile in her throat when thought of what Orochimaru may have done to him in those years.

"The meeting won't be anywhere near where the hideout was."

Sakura was ready to burst and she felt something she hadn't felt in years. There's a warmth growing in her heart, the same feeling she gets when she practices medicine. Sakura steadied her gaze to look over Sasuke, who made direct eye contact with the dirt by his feet. She did everything in her power to project the comforting feeling because no one deserves to be tortured. And if her information channels were correct, and they usually are, Orochimaru wasn't capable of much else.

"Fine. When do we leave?"

Sakura smiled and tossed him his own mission scroll. The same feeling she had felt when she forgave Naruto was clawing up her chest, but she shoved it back down and tucked it in a box. Uchiha Sasuke had done nothing to earn her forgiveness. This was a mission and she did what she had to do to make him participate. That's all.

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of the first arc! :D There's 100 followers of this story and I am _so_ excited.

Thank you thank you thank you for all your kind words thus far.

I feel like this chapter was rough (suddenly tenses because really hard for me? I dont know?), but I promise the next one will be better. I also just want to clear something up really fast - this is not a Sasuke bash. At all. Sasuke is honestly in my top five favorite characters and I adore him, however, Sakura is extremely upset with him right now and so naturally, she is having some pretty harsh thoughts about him.

Please continue to review and let me know what you think! :D

Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

* * *

Traveling with Sasuke hadn't been godawful. He certainly wasn't bothersome in any manner. In fact, he barely talked to her. Sakura could count on one hand how many phrases they'd exchanged in the day since they had left. She hated to admit it, but she almost wished she could find a conversation to have because god it was boring.

Thankfully, it was her turn to take watch and she was going to get in some well-deserved training. And training didn't need talking. She padded out from where she had been finishing up her dinner and Sasuke, who seemed to be meditating, opened an eye.

"Get some rest."

All she received in return was a small nod. Sakura wrinkled her nose and resisted the urge to glare more aggressively at his back as he walked away. The silent treatment was only fine when it was coming from her, obviously.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her herself and as she checked to make sure he was gone, she took off her red long sleeve, leaving only her grey ANBU flak jacket. It was nice to not be in sleeves, but the tattoo was an obvious sign she was a part of ANBU and had to be concealed at all times.

Sakura took out her tanto and went through several motions. It had been a while since she honed her skills and she had never really been good at working with weapons. Tenten had helped some, but even Tenten had noted that for someone of her caliber her sword-work was subpar. She was just more inclined toward taijutsu, feeling her opponent and connecting with them helped her assess and invest in the situation better. Her sword just never felt like an extension of her, not matter how many times Tenten insisted she had to make it such.

"Move your hands half and inch up, turn them a few degrees."

Sakura stopped cold and turned to see the source of the advice.

"I thought you were going to bed."

Sasuke seemed to almost laugh as he shook his head and walked in a few more steps.

"Do you want to get better or not?"

Sakura genuinely considered the question for a moment. Yes, she wanted to get stronger. Did she want _his_ help getting better? Absolutely not. Of course, he had caught her training her weakest point. He couldn't walk in on her shattering the ground. No, that would be far too convenient.

"Half inch, you said?" He nodded.

Sakura adjusted her grip and went through a few motions. She had to admit, it helped a bit. However, not enough to actually make a huge different.

"Loosen your wrist."

"Excuse me?"

Sasuke continued to stare at her, eyebrows raised. His face begged the same question from before, did she want to get better?

Scowling she let the tension in her wrist go and went through the motions of her favorite routine. And for the first time, she had a vague idea of what Tenten meant. The sword was moving with her, she wasn't moving the sword. She held back a smile since Sasuke didn't deserve the satisfaction.

Finishing the routine, she sheathed the sword.

"Well, I'm done training." Sakura turned to walk back toward camp.

"Aren't you going to take your shirt?"

Sakura paled as she glanced down to her bare arms. There was no way he hadn't noticed. She swallowed and picked up her shirt, throwing it over her shoulder and nearly shoving past him. It didn't mean she had to acknowledge he'd seen it. Or care. So what if he knew she was ANBU now? This was her last diplomat mission anyway. All it meant is that he was now fully aware that she was better than him.

Sakura stared at the fire, holding her knees. Apparently neither of them were ones to sleep early, if at all.

"So, ANBU?"

Sakura glanced to side. Sasuke was making small talk, interesting.

She shrugged. "Yeah."

"You're busy."

His voice was as flat at ever, but the fact he was talking to her at all, let alone about her, made her tense. Clearly, he'd be paying attention when she talked the few times they'd met. How odd.

"Well, between ANBU, diplomat missions and the hospital, you could say that." Sakura was really trying not to ramble. Especially because as far as she concerned she didn't even want to be talking to him. He didn't deserve to know about her life and what had happened while he was gone. If he wanted to know, he shouldn't have left.

"Hn."

That was more like it. Sakura leaned back and looked at the sky. She still had forty-five minutes left on her watch. She could read. She had just picked up a book on plants in the Northern regions of Sound and she really wanted to find some good ones for her poisons.

"Why ANBU?"

"Why not?" Sakura knew she was being snippy, but it was none of his business.

"Because you have never been one to kill needlessly."

Her blood was boiling now as she snapped back up and glared at him.

"I don't kill needlessly. I kill so that I can save our allies. Thousands of lives are saved everyday by ANBU missions. You don't even have to think about it, but lives are being saved without you knowing it."

"So you make it easier for us to kill them?"

"I make it harder for them to kill us."

 _Since when did he become a damn philosopher?_ Her inner voice was screeching and having a full temper tantrum. Outwardly, Sakura was gritting her teeth, but she hadn't thrown anything yet. She'd have to report back about her self-control to Tsunade. Clearly it was improving.

"Same thing."

"No, Sasuke. It's not. They are trying to kill us, what are we supposed to do? Let them?"

"Did you know we started this war, Sakura?"

"That's not true. I'm the Hokage's apprentice, I think I know what's going on."

"Then tell me, Sakura. What caused the war?"

Sakura took a long breath, rolling her eyes. Sasuke wasn't an idiot, he should know this. It was basic knowledge.

"They sent in a spy. They tried infiltrate the village and attack us for… the jinchuriki. The spy killed a Konoha citizen because of false intel. So, needless to say, they started it."

And then he laughed. Sasuke barked the most bitter laugh Sakura had ever heard.

"The elders and their bullshit. Is that what they fed you? Is that what you're feeding other nations to get them to side with us?"

"The elders wouldn't just lie to Tsunade, or the village-"

"It wouldn't be the first time." Sasuke cut her off, his voice harsher and most emotional than she had ever heard it.

"Look, whatever you think you know, it's probably wrong. I mean who told you everything? Orochi-"

"The Hokage. She told me everything."

Sakura hated that her jaw nearly dropped. She hated how he was looking at her both furious and so smug. It was like he was begging to get socked. Before she could even figure out how to respond to his outrageous claims, he kept going.

"Don't you have missions that are classified?"

"Obviously." Frankly, most of her missions were. Or they were classified until they were complete, at least.

"Then what makes you think there aren't things that are classified to everyone except the elders?"

Sakura bit her lip. It made sense. Of course, there would be things that were kept from people for the greater good. That was fact, but keeping something from them and outright lying about it was another. She didn't have to lie about her classified missions, but as far as people were concerned they never existed. Omission wasn't necessarily lying.

"I'm done with this conversation."

Sasuke met her with a slight shrug. She wasn't having this conversation with him. However, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't going to speak with Tsunade after this mission was over. If she was convincing people to ally with them she couldn't be spewing lies. That would be wrong.

 _Murder is wrong_ , her inner self spat.

It wasn't murder. Well, she did kill people, but not like that. They were going to kill her friends and family. What else was she supposed to do?

When Sasuke finally took over guard duty, Sakura rolled into her bed roll. It took far longer than it should have for her to fall into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Two hours ago, Sakura had informed Sasuke about their detour to a village near the Sound and Fire border and he'd seemed mildly annoyed. But, it _was_ part of their mission to check in there. His annoyance only seemed to grow when a woman came screeching out of the double doors of the hospital.

"Sakura dear!"

Sakura grinned and accepted the embrace of the woman.

"Katsumi, how are things?"

"Oh, great! The hospital is running like a well-oiled machine. Just a lot of hustle and bustle. You know, you know… oh how are you? Are the medic tents going well? Do you need extra hands? You know we just graduated-"

Sakura waved her off gently. "We are quite fine, thank you. This is my… comrade… Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura swore she saw Sasuke nearly flinch at the mention of his last name to her, but it could have been her imagination she supposed.

"Ah, I've heard of you. Kind of you to bring down that snake bastard."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke for a moment. She knew he had defeated Orochimaru, but she figured it had been with the help of Naruto and Jiraiya.

Sasuke seemed equally puzzled by the comment, him killing Orochimaru wasn't exactly common knowledge, was it?

"Oh, I spend a lot of time in Sound. We send our medics there to help and that man did some awful things to people. Don't look so confused. Ah, well wanna have a look see? Let's head on in."

Sakura trailed after Katsumi, intent on making sure the hospital was running smoothly. The structure seemed to be still put together well and it was clean, so that was a lovely start.

"Our survival rate is excellent, not as good as Konoha's with you, Shizune and Tsunade running around, but quite good. And our research department discovered a few antidotes to several poisons. Poisoning is so common in this region, so we try to be ahead of the game. But you know all about that, don't you?"

Katsumi threw her a wink, since Sakura had been the one to train the departments and had focused directly on poisons.

"Sasuke, honey, do you know what your teammate did here? She built this place from the ground up. No kidding." Katsumi gestured wildly at the pillars.

"I didn't build it myself, I helped design it. All the hard work-"

"Oh bah. You stop being so modest right now. You developed our protocols and trained half our departments. If it wasn't for you, we'd still be a leveled piece of land. A pipe dream!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, but she felt a smile creep upon her lips. Sasuke was looking at her intently as they completed their round of the hospital. Katsumi kept running through several anecdotes of their achievements until they come to a halt in the lobby.

"And here's the scroll you came all the way here for. That should suffice! Let me know if you need anything else."

Sakura bowed to Katsumi, accepting the scroll. "As always, it's a pleasure, Katsumi. I'll come by again soon."

As Sasuke and Sakura reached the end of town, Sasuke finally spoke up. "What was that about?"

"Well, Shizune and I went to the northern and southern borders and spent about four months developing hospitals. So many people were dying making their way to Konoha, so we made more locations. It's been successful."

"Hn. Interesting." He paused for only a moment, and Sakura could swear he was almost smiling. "What does that have to do with that scroll?"

"This, is an agreement that with our alliance, Sound may use the hospital. Considering the lack of proper medical treatment in the country, I'd like to think it's a quite a bargaining point."

"Using a hospital and medical treatment as a bargaining tool is ruthless."

Sakura furrowed her brow. "Well, we generally don't allow enemies into our borders."

"And people choosing to remain neutral?"

Sakura's frown deepened. "Look, at this point, they're with us or they're not. There's no other option when the country on either side of you is at war with each other."

Sasuke nodded as stuck his hands in his pockets, but didn't stop staring at Sakura. Not that Sakura could feel his stare or anything boring a hole into her skull.

As Sakura jumped from branch to branch she felt something odd in her chest. For the past two days Sasuke had been posing question after question about why she did what she did and no matter what her reasoning, it was wrong. And for some reason, she cared what he thought. She cared that he had a point. Not that someone who would leave their own village and do god knows what before killing their master was the person whose moral compass she should listen to.

But was there a real reason for the war? And what were some of the things that were hidden from even her? Sakura shook her head, willing the questions away. Nothing, and if it was, she was pretty sure she didn't want to know.

* * *

A/N: Hm, maybe Sakura's moral compass is a little messed up? Who knows, that's half the fun. :)

First chapter of the second arc! Yay!

Reviews are greatly greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

* * *

It took them an entire day to make it to the northern area of Sound. The night before had been filled with a stupid amount of contemplation. In fact, the entire mission was filled with contemplation. And not about things she should be concerned about. She needed to be worried about the mission and the war and what would happen after. And here Sakura was concerned about her morality? If her moral compass was off, it was a pretty terrible time to figure it out.

Sakura shook her head, rolling her eyes and focusing on the next branch. She had half a mind to read her book while running, but she wasn't as good at it as Kakashi and they'd probably slow down. She was a sure Sasuke wouldn't appreciate the slow down. So instead, she ran through her favorite medical procedures mentally, making sure she still had them memorized. Not that she would forget, but it was something to do.

They had designated their meeting area in the one of the Hozuki districts. Most of the buildings were a brilliant marble due to excess amounts of it in this landscape. Naturally, the building they approached was a white marble. They'd been instructed to just walk in and join, apparently it was a meeting hall, not a palace or a home like usual.

It was appreciated it, honestly. Sakura tugged at her formalwear and brushed the bangs out of her face as she sat down at the table. Sasuke had not gotten the memo to dress up, but his uniform would suffice. It wasn't frowned upon to wear standard issue uniforms, but it certainly didn't look great if one did.

The next person to walk in was a tall, burly man, Sakura immediately identified as Jugo. Her notes of his distinct looks were accurate. They were not kidding when they said he was large, towering well above the average man. He clapped a gentle hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Good to see you're well, Sasuke."

Sakura nearly fell out of her chair in shock, when Sasuke gave a small smile to the man and nodded.

"Yeah, you too."

But, being the dignified woman she was, she resorted to a few blinks of shock instead of collapsing. Especially because Jugo turned his attention to her.

"You must be Sakura. It's a pleasure. I'm-"

"Jugo," Sakura finished, making sure to put a little extra warmth in her voice. "It's so nice to meet you."

Jugo went to say something, but as he opened his mouth the door flew open and in walked a white haired, snaggle-toothed man. By default, it had to be Suigetsu.

"Well, look who decided to show up! Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura seriously considered murdering him considering rolling one's eyes at someone they were negotiating with was against every rule she could think of.

"Shut up, Suigetsu."

Sakura was actually going to have a heart attack. How in God's name was she supposed to do her job if he kept being rude to them? She knew she should have shot them down when they suggested bringing Sasuke. Clearly, he was only going to be a hindrance. She resisted a heavy sigh and a kick to Sasuke's ankle was all she dealt him.

The only inclination he gave he was a small glance in her direction and a twinge of a frown, but not much else.

"Well, no one else is joining us so let's get this going." Suigetsu was leaning back in his chair, earning an obvious glare from his companion.

Sakura tucked a piece of her behind her ear and tried her best not to huff. "Alright, well we are here to-"

"Can we cut the crap? You want us to be allies, yeah? What do you have to offer?"

"Suigetsu, at least let her-" Jugo interrupted.

"No, Suigetsu is right. We do have something to offer."

Sakura fought the urge to kick Sasuke again. He was supposed to sit there and look pretty, yet here he was calling the shots. He wasn't trained in this, he did not know exactly what to do. But, she knew well that back-tracking against Sasuke would hurt the look of Leaf's united front. So, she had to work with it.

"We would be able to offer you medical care to our Northern Konoha Hospital. It's quite close to your central and southern parts of the country."

"We have several clinics available. I'm unsure that being able to go to hospital is enough to allow our country to become war-ridden." Jugo folded his hands and Sakura resisted the urge to smile.

"I'm well aware of your hospital situation, or lack thereof. I spoke with Katsumi and how she often sends medical camps to help. Your clinics seem to also struggle with more debilitating issues."

"Bad injuries aren't a problem without war." Suigetsu spat out and Sakura sighed.

"A month ago, I treated a severe injury caused by farming equipment. Severe injuries happen everywhere and all the time. If our alliance became long term, we'd be open to helping you develop a hospital in your own country as well. Based on a longer term treaty, of course."

Sakura's smile was actually beginning to hurt her face, so she attempted to relax it a little. They all knew it was fake, but she still felt rude deadpanning.

Jugo began to open his mouth, but Suigetsu leaned forward in the chair. An impish grin slid across his face.

"That's all fine and dandy, but there is one thing we-"

"-you," Jugo corrected.

"-want."

Sakura leaned into her palm and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Kabuto."

Sakura tried to keep the surprise off her face. Images from the chunin exams flooded into her brain of the glassed ninja. And she shivered at how much she had trusted him and then he'd be working with Orochimaru.

"No." Sakura's attention was immediately on Sasuke. He was not calling the shots, how dare he deny their request.

"What I think Sasuke means is, we're going to need a moment to discuss this new request. Mind if we step out?"

"Absolutely, Sakura. Take your time." Jugo was pleasant and Sakura returned with a smile before standing and smiling at Sasuke and nodding her head toward the door. She was smiling, but with the way her left eye seemed to have develop a slight twitch, one could presume she wasn't thrilled with Sasuke.

As the meeting room door swung shut, Sakura's face twisted. Sasuke raised his brows.

"What?"

"What do you mean what? I am the ones calling the shots. This is my meeting. I brought you here to soften them up. You do not get to make the decisions for us."

"I'm the one who brought Kabuto to Konoha."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Congratulations, you brought a peace offering when you returned from being a rogue-nin. That doesn't mean you get to decide what we do with him."

"You don't understand how they treat prisoners here." Sasuke's voice was low.

Sakura took one step forward and glared. "Have you met Ibiki? I highly doubt-"

"I would rather spend thirty years with Ibiki then ten minutes with their prison wards."

Sakura gnawed the inside of her cheek, which was already raw. She really needed to find a new nervous habit. Ibiki was terrifying and well known for his torture techniques across all the nations. For Sasuke to suggest that Ibiki was a cakewalk was a little concerning to Sakura.

She had spent a decent amount of time learning about Torture and Interrogation from Ino. Ino spent more time in interrogation, but still had to understand the torture side. And Sakura fully understood how necessary it was to obtain information from enemies no matter what even if the methods made her a little nauseous.

"If they want information about the atrocities he committed in their country, they have the right."

Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you know how I know Jugo and Suigetsu?"

Sakura frowned. She knew they were companions and Jugo and Suigetsu were from surrounding clans. "Did they help you defeat Orochimaru?"

Sasuke barked a laugh. "I _freed_ them from Orochimaru and Kabuto. There's no information they need. They were there, just like me."

Sakura was suddenly gnawing at her cheek again. If they didn't want them for information…that didn't make sense. That's the only reason you want a deadly criminal in your midst.

"What could they want with him then?"

"You don't want to know, Sakura."

"I'm not some child. You don't have to spare me the details."

She would grow to regret the statement as her eyes met red and world whirled around her for a moment. She saw knives separating limbs, and could smell burnt flesh. There were cries and disfigured bodies lumped all around. There was someone held out and wailing despite nothing being directly wrong with them. Sakura took a long breath, centered her chakra and made a small hand sign.

"Release."

Sasuke was in front of her again and by the smug look on his face, she was sure she looked distraught. She thrust a finger into his chest.

" _Do not_ use genjutsu on me to prove a point, use your words."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Sakura swallowed a bit of bile as she shook the images from her mind.

"This alliance will save thousands. Screw him."

Frankly, Sakura wasn't sure whether her decision was out of spite for Sasuke or for the betterment of Konoha, but she sincerely hoped it was mostly the latter.

* * *

The small table in the inn had pretty much become Sakura's desk in the time since they'd gotten back to their room. She had to re-write the treaty, get it approved by Tsunade and then send to back to the Sound clans to get it signed. She rolled up the scroll that held the treaty and opened another to write an explanation and report of her mission.

Sasuke hadn't spoken at all since Sakura had announced that she was agreeing to hand over Kabuto. Considering she had spent the better part of her day wishing he would shut up, she was confused by the fact she cared that he was silent. In fact, she should be jumped for joy.

She frowned and raked her fingers through her hair and willed herself to focus on the words in front of her. The faster she finished this, the faster she could get back to reading her books and enjoy the fact she had accomplished her mission.

Yet, she could hear his breathing and the way the bed shifted when he changed positions. The fact that he was not even acknowledging the fact they'd set out to do exactly what they had meant to do what infuriating. Was he friends with Kabuto or something? If he cared so much, why did he bring him to Konoha? Killing Orochimaru certainly would have been enough to earn him amnesty.

Sakura rolled up the scroll. The report wasn't her best work, but it would have to do. Sakura summoned her favorite eagle and attached the scrolls to his backpack. With a gentle pet to his beak, he was off. Sakura shifted in her chair for a moment.

"Why are you so angry I gave up Kabuto?"

Sasuke glanced up from his reading, made eye contact and went back to reading.

Sakura really hadn't meant to snarl at him, but considering the fact he was ignoring her when she was staring at him was unacceptable. They had been partners on this mission, how dare he blatantly disrespect her.

"I'm not angry. I just thought you wouldn't do it. It's not who you are."

Sakura's fists balled even tighter as he answered.

"You know nothing about me, Sasuke."

He raised his brows again and shook his head.

"Clearly."

Sakura resisted the urge to screech because she was not about to have a full breakdown in front of Sasuke about this. She had done the right thing. Giving Kabuto up to save everyone from getting ravished by a war to the north was worth it. Kabuto was good for nothing.

Her book made for a decent distraction. She had seen some of the meadows on the way here and she was certainly not passing them up on the way home. She smiled just a little as she mentally put the ingredients together into several different types of poisons.

A small sparrow knocked at the window. It was way too soon for Tsunade to be getting back to her, but that was definitely her summon. She eased up and let the bird in and could recognize the scroll in its pack from anywhere. It was a black and gold scroll complete with the official seal of the Hokage.

 _Haruno Sakura:_

 _It is with great sorrow we deliver the news of Haruno Hizashi's passing. He was killed in action on June 24_ _th_ _during a mission. We will be delivering his belongings to the address listed below. If additional arrangements need to be made please contact your commander._

Sakura dropped the scroll to the ground, and she followed soon after. She read the scroll again and fought the tears brimming. Her mother had died only two years ago, but that had been expected. Mebuki was sick Sakura's entire life and had lived well past when she was expected, so Sakura had known it was coming, but her father?

He didn't even typically partake in particularly difficult missions as a chunin. He wasn't even on the front. He was in the village. She mentally chided herself for a moment. Any mission could be dangerous. Considering her first C-Rank mission, she should certainly know better.

Her fist collided with the floor and she bit her lip. This wasn't fair. She had lost her mother and barely got to see her father. She had been planning to see him more once the war ended. Once she was less busy. And now, she wouldn't.

The creaking of the bed nearby caught her attention. Sasuke was staring at her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Sakura looked desperately for any sort of warmth because of course in a moment like this she couldn't be with Neji, or Lee, or Tenten, or even Naruto. Hell, being alone would be better than being stuck in a room with someone who couldn't do anything but stare at her right now.

Sakura blinked back the tears once more and sighed.

"My dad was killed. I'm an…" Sakura couldn't bring herself to say 'orphan' as she finally choked out a sob. She turned to face the wall and leaned against the bed. There was a small thud as Sasuke sat down a foot or so from her on the floor. She glanced his way from a moment, but he didn't bother to look at her, staring at the wall.

"I get it."

Sakura swallowed and nodded, burying her head into her arms. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall because, damn it all, crying because your dad died wasn't weak.

* * *

A/N: Tada! Chapter Nine is here, finally! Writing this chapter was super difficult for some reason D:.

Also just to reiterate: This story is not a Naruto and Sasuke bash. Sasuke is genuinely in my top three fave characters, and Naruto is top five. Hopefully that becomes apparent as the story goes on. But yes, right now Sakura is bashing the hell out of them and this is from here point of view.

Ravendale: Different strokes for different folks? Yikes if you bothered to read further than the first chapter, you'd see I address most of your concerns. Oh well.

Anywho, thanks for reading! Reviews are always greatly appreciated! :D


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

* * *

The memorial had been difficult. Sakura had to stand in front and feel everyone's eyes on her. She heard the whispers of pity for her and accepted the condolences of everyone with her fakest warm smile. Ino and her father reached her last. Ino's hug was genuine and Sakura swallowed a sob as Ino crushed her in her arms.

"This is awful. Whenever you want to talk, I'm here." Sakura nodded into Ino's neck. It was nice that someone wasn't saying 'I know how you feel' because half the people who said it hadn't lost one parent, let alone two.

As they parted, Inoichi clapped a hand on her shoulder. "You know where we live if you need anything."

Sakura nodded and bowed as they left. Finally alone, she crossed her arms and stared down at the grave. It was covered in flowers and perfectly manicured. Sakura sucked in one last deep breath before walking toward a training ground.

* * *

Sakura punched into another tree, breaking it and again. And again. And again. Her hands were dripping blood and she wasn't sure whether the salty liquid streaming down her face was sweat or tears, but she didn't care. She caught her breath for only a moment before winding up to nail another tree, but someone caught her fist.

She spun and went to hit the person with her fit. But a tuft of black hair ducked. She twisted out of his grasp and went to kick him in the side. He blocked easily and she proceeded with her flurry of blows. After the fifteenth failed to land, a sob choked out and she fell to her knees.

"I can't even land a stupid punch."

Sakura hated the self-pity spewing from her right now. She was weak. She was sobbing and collapsed in training. She couldn't even land a stupid blow. She was better than this. If only her father could see her now, she was no different than the twelve year old girl she had sworn she'd never be again.

"You're letting your emotions control the fight."

With a sniffle Sakura wiped her eyes and brought her knees to her chest. He had a point. She had made some strides since the last time she sobbed in a training ground. She had advanced in ranks, developed new poisons and jutsu. Changed the tides of war, all while packing up her emotions in neat little boxes in the back of her mind.

"I also could see like crap."

Sasuke sat down near her and held out his hand. Sakura glanced at him and his gaze turned to her bloodied hands. Sakura gave his her hand as he bandaged it.

"I know it's an unhealthy coping mechanism, okay? But you're not one to talk. I don't want to hear it!"

Sasuke quirked a brow, the corners of his lips twitching up. "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't need to. I can _feel_ you judging me."

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes, giving her hands back.

"I know a thing or two about unhealthy coping mechanisms."

She was an idiot. His coping mechanism had been to run off to Orochimaru and train. She cried on training grounds. He definitely won in the unhealthy coping mechanism department.

"Sorry," Sakura sighed. She raked her now bandaged hand through her hair.

"I also know a thing or two about losing parents." Sasuke wasn't looking her at anymore, he was staring at the trees and Sakura admired his ability to be so stoic for a moment. She couldn't handle someone gushing right now.

"I'm sure." Sakura rested her chin on her knees. Sasuke was being so nice. It was weird, but comforting.

After a long moment, Sakura stood up and brushed some grass off her skirt. "It's fine."

Sasuke turned to look at her and raised his brows.

Sakura smiled and sighed. "We're fine."

* * *

Tsunade tossed Sakura a scroll as she entered. Sakura caught it and furrowed her brow. "What's this?"

"Didn't I ask you to come in uniform!"

In a moment of panic, Sakura glanced down, only to see her flack jacket and other standard issued clothing. Sakura gestured down to her gear. She was obviously in uniform.

" _ANBU_ gear."

The scroll had said 'uniform'. How the hell was she supposed to know what to wear?

"Well you should have made that clearer. I have three different uniforms, not including my diplomat wear."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "Well, I have your squad that you'll be the captain of."

ANBU captains weren't required to have squads they were permanent captains of. Actually, it was far more common for them to bounce around as needed since a captain wasn't needed on every mission. Frankly, Sakura barely liked working with anyone at all, but she knew she'd need to as a captain.

"I don't think a permanent squad is necessary. We both know I usually function better-"

"Last time I checked, you're the one who got herself blown up on her last solo mission."

"We both know that wasn't-"

Tsunade held up a hand. "I'm aware of the circumstances. But, you leading this squad is not up for discussion! Open the scroll."

Breaking the seal, Sakura opened the scroll and read its contents. She raked her fingers through her hair and shook her head.

"Is this a joke?"

Tsunade leaned forward on her laced fingers. "I hope you have made amends."

The scroll listed the names of her two new ANBU squad mates in bold. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Their bios were listed below and as she scanned them she was a little impressed. Their team was well balanced if one didn't know how awful their personalities clashed.

"Team Seven was one of the biggest failues Konoha has ever seen."

Several generations of Team Seven had been terrors. The Sannin were great ninja, but one had betrayed the village and two had run off for years. Lord Fourth's team had all but died in the war, and Lord Fourth had died saving the village. Not a complete failure, but nothing to write home about. Kakashi's team was almost worse than the Sannin. Two of them died, one by the hand of their own teammate. And Kakashi, while a great ninja, was about as good of a leader as Sakura's right foot. And then there was the most recent Team Seven. Naruto defied nearly seventy-five percent of his orders given, Sasuke had left the village to seek revenge, and Sakura was barely keeping it together right now.

Team Seven was cursed. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Tsunade grinned. "Well now its _Squad_ Seven."

What was Tsunade doing - calling on Kakashi for tips on how to be insufferable? Sakura tried to be annoyed, but the joke was a little funny, even if she was the butt of it. "Fine. When do we get together?"

"They'll meet at training ground twelve tomorrow. All they know is Cobra is going to be their captain."

Sakura felt her a giddiness forming in her. Naruto knew who Cobra was, but Sasuke had no idea. She bit her lip, trying to contain the grin forming.

"Don't be too awful to them, okay?"

Sakura spun on her heel and waved dismissively, mimicking how Kakashi handled every situation. "Mah, mah, I wouldn't do anything like it."

The plan for the evening was to go home, take a long hot bath, eat dinner and go to bed. The fact the not one, but two people had invaded her apartment had stopped it right in it's tracks.

"What is god's name are you doing on my couch?"

She had set traps for god sakes. Regardless, people were supposed to wait politely inside, not walk in and make themselves at home.

"We got accepted into ANBU!"

Naruto ran up, picked up Sakura spun her as if she was the one exclaiming good news. Sakura tried to hide her giggles, but failed.

"Congrats, you."

"And we get to work under Cobra." Naruto grinned and winke with the subtlety of an elephant and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Cobra's cool," Sakura agreed with about as much subtlety as Naruto.

Sasuke shook his head, sauntering up behind Naruto. "Cobra is a legend."

Sakura ignored the comment. She wasn't a legend...yet anyway.

"Why are you here too?" Sakura knew darn well why Sasuke had joined, but he didn't know that.

Sasuke shifted and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I got accepted as well."

"And we wanted to celebrate. We're way more likely to go on missions together now. And if that isn't something to get ramen over, I don't know what is!"

Before anyone could object Naruto had grabbed both of their wrists and they were out the door.

* * *

Dinner was a delightful Naruto blubbered excitedly about how he was going to be working under Cobra and how 'freaking awesome' that was. The entire time grinning at Sakura and no matter how many times she kicked his ankle he didn't shut up about it. The man had even began to tell stories about Cobra and all the adventures he'd been on.

Sasuke had shown some interest in the fact he was also working under the famed ANBU member. And Sakura had merely hummed and laughed despite wanting to kill Naruto. She knew exactly what he was trying to do. But, she wasn't going to walk into his trap and correct his hyperboles. Sasuke would find out who she was tomorrow. And that was that.

It got worse when Sasuke had joined in, adding in information he had heard from others about Cobra. Sakura's giggles were real now because Sasuke actually believed this crap.

Half the missions they described hadn't even happened. Or well, they hadn't happened that way. One mission she'd been sent on where she had been cornered and killed three men in one attack suddenly turned into a mission where she cornered thirty-five men and killed them in one kick. That had been one of her first ANBU missions. She was good, but not that good.

The best exaggeration was when they talked about the mission where Cobra had apparently blown away an entire enemy camp with one finger. Sakura had rolled her eyes at that one. She had punched a hole in the ground, causing a sink hole. It was a good thing the camp was built on swamp-land and she still had to fight several shinobi who were able to survive. It wasn't a big camp, either despite how Sasuke had heard it was thousands. It was fifty people, if that.

As they parted ways at the end of the street, Sakura stretched with a yawn. "See you guys in –" Sakura paused only for a moment before continuing. "-later."

Naruto caught her slip up and his feral grin stretched across his face and Sasuke furrowed his brow. He knew he was missing something, but Sakura had spun and retreated toward her apartment before any questions could be asked.

* * *

The morning in Konoha was freezing by Sakura's standards, especially considering it was July. She chalked it up to the thunderstorms from the night before and pulled out her ANBU cloak. She usually reserved it for missions since it was annoying to train it, but she wasn't about to freeze just because she couldn't handle a piece of fabric.

Pulling the hood over her head, Sakura took to the rooftops. No one questioned her bouncing across them in her cloak. Normal shinobi typically got a side eye of sorts since they often did knock off shingles and it was annoying to the home-owners, but civilians were horrified of ANBU. So, frankly, they insisted they stay to the rooftops and out of the streets.

Sakura landed in the training ground and wasn't surprised to see Naruto and Sasuke already there. Naruto wore a bear mask and Sasuke had a fox. Sakura tried to not find the irony of the fox mask not being given to Naruto. She supposed if the uniform department had done it, it would have been in bad taste. But giving it to his teammate certainly wasn't good taste.

"Captain," they addressed simultaneously as they stopped from their own training.

Sakura relished in her title only for a moment. Being someone's captain was a honor she didn't know she'd get to have ever, let alone so young. She nodded and instructed them on her plans for the day. Conditioning and sparring. She knew them, sure. But one of them didn't know that and she really hadn't given either of them much time to show her exactly what they could do.

Conditioning was simple and she only allotted an hour for it. They were both plenty strong and she had didn't need to facilitate ANBU level shinobi on how to get stronger. They could do that on their own time.

"Now, let's spar. You two against me."

"Are you sure?" Bear, or Naruto, had turned his head to the side and Sakura could feel his hesitancy.

Sasuke had taken up a stance already and Sakura could feel his excited. "Of course she's sure, loser."

Sakura smirked and took a stance on her own. She was honestly surprised her cloak hadn't fallen yet, but she had gotten better at keeping it in place despite excessive movement.

Naruto shrugged and moved himself into a sloppy stance and Sakura nodded, indicating the beginning.

The spar was exhilarating. She had sparred with both Naruto and Sasuke recently, but that had been child's play since they knew they were against her. Now they were against Cobra and out to impress. And god, it was awesome. Naruto and Sasuke worked together seamlessly, making her have to work doubly hard to even land a blow. The look on Naruto's face after he had been hit by a tree trunk was priceless and she would cherish it forever.

Naruto was still struggling to get oriented after getting up from his encounter with nature, so Sakura wasted no time attacking Sasuke directly. He went to blow a fire ball at her, but she didn't give him the chance as she pounced directly toward him as he took a breath in to breath out. And he certainly did the fire ball, but it was redirected toward the sky with an undercut to his chin.

The force of the wind from the fire, finally blew her hood down but Sakura didn't notice as she turned her attention to the fourteen shadow clones surrounding her. As she finished off the last of them and went to kick the real Naruto, she was surprised to catch him off balance. She had probably given him a concussion. But, she expected the duck from him, so she reached out with her hand to grab his wrist and pinned it behind his back with a kunai to his throat.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment and damn the masked because she was curious as to the expression on his face. He had never gotten up from where he landed after she hit him, which was extremely out of character.

Naruto was kicking his feet, making little no progress on Sakura letting go. "Thanks a lot for the help, bastard!"

Sasuke ignored him, but finally spoke: "Sakura?"

Taking her mask off and placing it on the side of her head, she grinned. "You should really refrain from calling people by their real name while in uniform, Fox."

Feeling the shock radiating off Sasuke was everything she had dreamed of and more. Sakura finally let Naruto good, pocketed her kunai and brushed herself off.

"Well, that's enough for today. How about lunch?"

Sakura turned and kept walking, but behind her she heard some rustling. Naruto was complaining about how useless Sasuke had been, but Sasuke had insisted he'd been stupid enough to get himself into the mess at all. Then, Naruto rambled about how he knew Sakura was Cobra and how Sasuke was stupid for not figuring it out. Sasuke had not been thrilled with the idea of being an idiot and Sakura was completely fine with the fact she was pretty sure they were tackling one another.

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair and tried not to smile at the fact Sasuke seemed so… impressed, but she had spent the past three years trying to make herself better than them and she had finally done it.

* * *

A/N: We're pretty much at the end of the second arc (the next chapter will be a little transitionary, at least the beginning), so yay! I know it was much shorter than the first one.

Thanks to everyone again for your continued support. Please continue to review, I appreciate it so much :D Favorites and follows are good too!

Also some people have PM'd me with questions about the story, so if you guys do have any questions or anything like that feel free to ask! Or if you just wanna chat, that's okay too.

Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter Eleven

A/N: Warning of decently graphic content in the first three paragraphs. Nothing insane, but still wanted to give a heads up.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

Sakura gripped the edges of the trashcan, and dry heaved. Her stomach had long since emptied after she read the first half, but she had just kept reading. It couldn't have gotten any worse, but by god it had. Suigetsu was a ruthless being. She had known that. But this was straight up demonic.

Suigetsu had sent her a report of Kabuto's imprisonment and subsequent demise and it was written in excruciating detail. Sakura was sure he thought he was delivering a welcome gift, the sick bastard he was, but it had been the worst way for Sakura to end her day. The first half have depicted the week of sheer torture they had put him through. She had lost her dinner after that.

The second half consisted of the body disposal. While Kabuto was still alive. Sakura thought crucifixion had been outlawed. At least it had in Fire Country, for being inhumane. But apparently in the near lawless Sound, smothering him and his wounds with honey to attract nearby vermin and insects into the wounds and skin in general while stringing him up on a cross and leaving his death to the elements.

It was despicable and Sakura had signed off on it. Another dry heave at the realization that she was the one who put the go-ahead on the whole ordeal came up. She wiped the sweat from her brow and knocked the scroll from her desk and into the trash. Out of sight and out of mind was the best place for that thing.

Sasuke had been right. Suigetsu and the others were capable of despicable deeds to their enemies. It was an even better reason to have them on their side… right? Even if that meant trading Kabuto… Sakura felt herself wince at even the thought of him. Suigetsu had been so graphic in his descriptions, she could _see_ it. Sakura hardened her heart for a moment, it was worth it. Thousands of people had been saved and one awful man had died.

But, Sakura's mind had betrayed her and she had whisked herself off to the archives to learn more about Kabuto. As a captain, she finally had access to his file. She opened it and flicked through it. Her heart sank as she read it. He had been an orphan. And he'd been used as spy and been put in some god-awful situations for months on end. No wonder he'd cracked. But, that didn't excuse his murder.

 _Ran away from the village? Worked under Orochimaru? Sounds a lot like someone I know_ , a snotty little voice in the back of her head pointed out. Sakura waved the voice away. Sasuke was different. He hadn't murdered people and experimented on them.

 _Given more time, who knows what he'd have done._ Sakura really hated her inner-voice sometimes. It seemed to always be at war with her.

Sakura flipped the filed closed and plopped it back into its cabinet. She may have slammed the cabinet shut. But if a cabinet is slammed in a room and no one is around to hear it, did the cabinet really get slammed?

And Sakura certainly hadn't stormed out of the archives because that would be childish. She definitely walked with a distinct and aggressive purpose to the training grounds. Her purpose being to blow off as much steam as possible.

She wasn't a bad person. She wasn't. She was medic for heaven's sakes. She saved lives daily in the hospital. Sure, in the field she had quite the kill count, but it was about the savior count. And hers definitely outweighed her kill count. Enemies allowed to retreat only came back twice as strong and that kill people.

 _Enemies allowed to retreat only create more enemies._

Sakura flung a kunai at the target, nailing the center. Where on Earth was her mind getting all these ideas? It certainly wasn't from her considering how vehemently she disagreed with them. However, being conflicted was a normal part of life. Especially when one's life consisted of killing their way through their teenage years.

Sakura desperately wanted to get back to the front, out on a mission, picking up a second shift at the hospital, _anything_ to get this voice to shut up. Keeping busy was her general method of silencing her aggressive thoughts, but it seemed the universe wanted to keep her bored.

Things had wound down on the Western front. Stone had been captured and they had surrendered two days ago. The terms of their surrender was still be debated and Sakura would kill to be in on those meetings, but her status and clearance for those meetings was limited now. The Sound kept Lightening at bay in the north. And Lightening wasn't full of idiots, so they allowed most of their forces to travel by sea to the Eastern front where Mist was attacking.

Fighting Mist was so different from fighting Stone. Stone attacked in mass, strong forces. Mist was small in number, but they were mighty and clever. They didn't care if it was two in the morning on Christmas Eve, they would attack just because they knew you were sleeping a bit more sound than usual. It was ruthless. Now, with Lightening to back them up, they were becoming even more difficult to keep at bay.

Luckily, with the West cooling down more forces could be sent to the East and they were more evenly matched. The war would hopefully dissolve soon at this rate.

Sakura sipped from her cup of water and stared out her kitchen window at the lights twinkling over Konoha. It was beautiful. Even on her worst days, the views of Konoha were enough to strengthen her resolve to protect it. She dropped her cup into the sink and peaked at the clock. It was nearly midnight and she had the early shift at the hospital tomorrow. Crap.

* * *

Sakura was genuinely considering starting a coffee shop near the hospital. It seemed that if she could keep coffee in stock that she was flourish because the dang shop never seemed to have most of their roasts in stock. Honestly, they have one job and somehow, she always managed to have to drink the lightest coffee with the least caffeine. Useless. Sakura tossed the half-empty cup into the trash as she picked up her charts. No use in drinking something that wasn't even helping.

Halfway through her shift, she was paged into surgery. Sakura tossed her clipboard at the nearest nurse and booked it to the operating room. After scrubbing in, she entered the room and her eyes widened when she saw exactly who was on the table.

Ino. Ino had suffered several horrific broken ribs, which had punctured an organ or two. She was in bad shape, but not going to die if Sakura had anything to do with it.

"What happened to her?"

Ino worked at the hospital with far more regularity than she should, so Sakura knew the nurses had done some snooping. And she wanted to know who had done this to her best friend stat.

While fiddling with something on the computer system that was monitoring her vitals, one of the nurses finally spoke up. "Some crazed man apparently took on her and the rest of her team. Asuma is in surgery now too, Shikamaru and Choji seemed pretty okay though. Just some gnarly wounds."

Sakura's nose crinkled. Crazed man wasn't super specific. And who was vile enough to be able to take on a jonin and three chunin solo? He'd have to be a beast.

"He was working alone?"

The nurse pursed her lips for a moment. "Well, no. They mentioned another guy as well, but that one didn't do anything."

"So, one man did all that? Alone?"

"As far as I know. I wasn't there."

Sakura tried not to place her annoyance with the nurse. The fact that the woman knew anything at all was at least a start. Ino would be able to tell them every if- when, when she woke up. Because Ino was waking up. Sakura was not letting anyone die in her operating room today and certainly was not letting that person be her best friend.

It made sense why they called her, though. Tsunade was likely working on Asuma, and if Tsunade had been delegated to him… he was probably in bad shape. She didn't come into the hospital for scrapes and bruises.

The door to the OR slid open and an ANBU member Sakura didn't recognize peaked in.

"Your presence is requested for the Hokage, Haruno."

Sakura huffed and rolled her eyes. Tsunade was done already? What time had she gone in?

"I'm a little busy saving a life right now. So, unless someone is actively dying right now, tell her to hold her horses."

Sakura swore she heard the ANBU chuckle, and her eyes threatened to roll again. Clearly this guy was new, didn't give damn, or both.

"I'll make sure she holds her equine."

Sakura peaked up again and examined the mask, _of course_. She genuinely wondered when the Genma had begun taking part in ANBU, but she wasn't going to press the matter.

* * *

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair as she asked one of the other medics to close. She was exhausted. Ino's body had been torn in more places than Sakura could have imagined. How did she even get those wounds without breaking skin?

But she was alive, and stable. And that's what mattered. Sakura chewed on her thumb as she walked to the Hokage's office. Asuma's surgery had been short, which was either awful or great. Maybe it had looked worse than it was.

Maybe Tsunade had seen the damage, realized it wasn't bad, and given it to another medic. It wouldn't be the first time that happened.

Sakura pushed open the door to her mentor's office, not bothering to knock, but immediately wished she had. Tsunade's face was in her hands and she swore she might have been crying.

Her heart sank and she had her answer about Asuma. The surgery had been awful.

Tsunade placed her chin in her palm as Sakura took a seat across from her. Neither greeted the other and Sakura nodded knowingly. Tsunade knew Sakura had been in a surgery with Ino and that her disciple wasn't stupid.

"It was the Akatsuki." Tsunade finally announced.

Sakura glanced up. She knew the basics of the group. They were S-Ranked missing nin who essentially wreaked havoc. Konoha's Itachi had joined once he left, but that was the end of members Sakura knew of. But for one person, even an S-Rank, to take on four people… that was insane.

"How?" It was also Sakura could muster.

"Shikamaru said once he got your blood he was able to injure himself and cause damage to the other person."

"So, he's dead?"

No one could be walking around and surviving after doing what he did to both Ino and Asuma. Those injuries were deadly if not treated.

"No."

Sakura's jaw didn't just drop, it collapsed.

" _What?_ "

Tsunade sighed. "You guess is as good as mine. Shikamaru insists he's immortal, and he's not one to exaggerate."

Sakura raked her fingers through her hair and held head in her hands. How were they supposed to fight someone immortal? That was ridiculous. No one was immortal.

"Why are you telling me this? I mean, I'm sure this is classified. And I know you trust me, but this is surely highly classified."

"You would be right, highly classified, but you're on the people who need to know because it concerns your squad."

Sakura's mind immediately flashed to the two men she'd spend the last few weeks training with. Team Seven may have been dead, but Squad Seven was coming together. They were even progressing to laughing together during breaks in training. It was…. Nice. But, what could these men have to do with them?

"The Akatsuki are chasing after the kyubi. Or at least that's what Jiraiya has gathered."

Sakura nodded, slowly. Naruto was in her care now and she'd be damned if she let him get snatched by some crazed madmen.

Tsunade slide a few seals across the desk. "You're aware of what these are?"

Sakura examined the seals for a moment. Seals weren't her forte, but she had the basic knowledge of any experienced shinobi. These were more intense than any seal she'd ever seen before. However, she examined more closely and to was clearly some sort of repression seal.

"If Naruto becomes unable to control the kyubi, use these. He's only ever gotten to four tails and that was deadly. Anymore and he risks death."

Pocketing the seals, Sakura stood and bowed before leaving. Images of Naruto from their younger days flashed into her eyes. She had put it together before when she had found out about it initially, but now it made even more sense. When Naruto got angry, it was easier for the kyubi to take control.

Good thing they were at war and there was plenty to get angry about.

* * *

A/N: Apologies for the short chapter, but it was a much more dense chapter than I usually write. Sakura is having a quite the emotional turmoil right now, so it was needed. Hope you enjoyed it because I love writing it.

Also 150 follows! Thank you so much to everyone for your support, I appreciate it SO much.

Please continue to review, I love love love talking with you guys and hearing what you think (except you super rude guest who used vile slurs, you can go away and not come back.)

Thank you for reading :D


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

* * *

"It's a basic mission, to ease you three back into things. A-Rank, but only because it's across enemy lines where they have sightings of strong opponents. Nothing you three can't handle."

Damn Tsunade and her jinxing it. Sakura should have known better than to not knock on wood. Implying a mission was going to be easy pretty much guaranteed the opposite.

And this was no different. They were sent to collapse a valley where supplies were running through. It was supposed to be a simple mission. Sure, it was near a strong base, but if they observed enemy guards and their rotations and had a decent escape plan, they should have been fine.

Should have.

If their plan to be there hadn't been leaked to the enemy. If there hadn't been a spy in Konoha that knew of the plan. Naruto was already cursing whatever 'piece of shit' had ratted them out. Sakura was elbow deep in Sasuke's chest as she pumped his heart. Which was particularly difficult as they were moving through threes and Naruto was carrying him. But, she wasn't going to let him die here. Not in enemy territory. Not like this.

They had been waiting for them. Fifteen of them had been waiting for Squad Seven to arrive. And it wasn't fifteen genin. It was at least three jonin, and the rest were at least chunin. They had fared well initially, but they could not get it together.

Their team just didn't work. Naruto was trying to take them head on, but not kill anyone. Sasuke was actively trying to disable as many as possible, so they could accomplish the mission and get out. Sakura was focused on gaining intel from them at this point, then killing them. Naruto tripped over _Sakura_ at one point because he just wasn't listening to her say she was coming in behind him.

It had really hit the fan when Sasuke had succeeded in blocking the road in the ravine, but Sakura insisted they stay. In that moment, Naruto had wanted to go as well and aggressively turned to argue with Sakura about it.

The enemy weren't idiots. They could sense it and when Naruto paused to say that they should leave the enemy went in for the kill. And Sasuke had taken the blow. He took the blow as if Naruto wasn't easier to heal.

And at that point Naruto was right, they did have to flee because Sakura was not having a casualty on her first mission as captain. And she sure as hell was not letting that casualty be Sasuke.

Finally, they crossed the border into fire country and Sakura could let out a momentary breath. Naruto slowed to a halt and laid Sasuke down and Sakura ran her second hand over his body. He'd lost so much blood. She'd been able to stop it before it was fatal, but he definitely needed a blood transfusion fast. She pictured where they were on a map and frowned. Konoha was nearly a half day away moving quickly. She had the ability to do a transfusion but it wasn't enough to last that long. There was the Northern Konoha Hospital, which was probably four hours at their pace.

"Bear, we're not going to Konoha."

Naruto nodded, and Sakura only let herself be in awe for a moment at how well he listened. "We have to head west toward the Konoha Hospital. It's just south of the Sound border."

"Will he-"

"I'm not sure. But it's the best shot we have."

Sakura knelt down next to him and did the best patch up job she could before they got started moving again. At least his heart was beating on its own for now.

* * *

Sakura was shoved away from the bed as several medics, who she had trained no less, worked on Sasuke.

"I'm the one who got him here!" She was also the best damn medic in this building, but she wasn't about to announce it. It was likely that she'd only be shoved further from the bed if she started being arrogant.

A spritely young medic spun to face her and Sakura recognized her from one of the lectures.

"And we're the ones that are going to save him. You're exhausted, dirty, and too close to the patient."

Sakura stared down at the girl, who was short but likely the same age as her. She tried her best glare but she medic wasn't backing down as she stared backed with equal ferocity. Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair, resigning herself.

"You have a point. Mind if I use the staff showers?"

"Three doors down and to the left, Miss Haruno."

Sakura's eyes widened for a moment as she nodded and continued on her way. She was still in her ANBU mask and uniform. She took off her mask and clipped it to her belt, her hair was a little identifiable if anyone had met her before. She shrugged it off, she'd save the girl the lecture about addressing ANBU by name considering she seemed to have taken her trainings to heart.

The shower in the locker room seemed way more luxurious than it actually was when one was covered from head to toe in grime and blood. Thank god for the abrasive shampoo dispensed in from the wall. It didn't do her hair any favors, but it good at getting the blood out of her hair.

She leaned against the wall and allowed the water to pound her body. The mission had been a disaster. They were supposed to be an exemplary team. All the data pointed to it. Their talents complimented each other, their power levels were balanced and, hell, they were getting along lately. But, the second they were out there and even the mildest disturbance arose, no one listened. They had all gone against what each other were saying.

Maybe Sasuke had been right, the enemies were strong, they should have withdrawn. But she was the captain and they were supposed to listen. She knew they could have taken the enemy. If the boys had just focused and trusted – that was it. They didn't trust each other.

Sakura frowned and moments from training and the mission flashed in her mind. They were still trying to protect her. Every time she went for an enemy, they would switch and attack the same one. Of course, they'd want to retreat if they thought they had to protect her and fight. But they didn't. She could hold her own. It wasn't like when they were genin.

She snapped the shower off and wrapped herself in her towel. She dug through the bin of scrubs and pulled out a fresh pair. Her ANBU outfit was disgusting. Thank god they had people in charge of handling the uniforms. Sakura was often called a miracle worker, but compared to what the people who cleaned their uniforms did, she was nothing more than a roadside trickster.

Also, there was a chance if she looked refreshed and in scrubs they would let her help out. Sakura twisted her hair into a clip and made her way back to the last place she saw Sasuke. The emergency room was full of people, but he wasn't one of them anymore. Sakura frowned, now she didn't know where Naruto or Sasuke were.

Naruto had been whisked off to get his smaller wounds tended to. Sakura had aggressively refused treatment because her wounds were not bad. Hell, she treated them just fine during her shower. Naruto's were basically healed already but the way his wounds healed was always rough, they definitely needed to be looked at for infection. And Sasuke was hopefully in surgery if he wasn't in the emergency room anymore.

Sakura approached the front desk and put on her bed smile. "Hey there! I'm Haruno Sakura and I'm looking for-"

The girl hadn't even looked up from her computer. Sakura raised a brow, pursed her lips and began tapping her foot. The receptionist continued to tap away at the computer.

"Excuse me?"

Nothing. Sakura drummed her fingers on the counter and fifteen seconds later, not that she was counting, the girl turned.

"Can I help you?"

"Where is Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Who are you to him?"

Sakura had to fight every cell in her body to keep herself from flying over the desk and clobbering the girl. But, if diplomat training had taught her one thing it was that physical violence was rarely effective. No matter how relieving it may be.

"His captain. I would like his status immediately. The Hokage needs to know."

Tsunade really hadn't asked about his condition, but then again Sakura hadn't exactly reported in recently. However, she would be asking about his condition soon, so she was just being proactive. Plus, by the way the girl was suddenly a lot more active about finding the location of her teammate.

"I'd also love the status of my other teammate, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uh huh. You got it!"

"Mmmmm, thank you." Sakura practically wrinkled her noise in feigned gratitude.

"Uchiha is still in surgery." The girl laid out a map and began tracing her finger. "Down the hall, make a right, then a left, and then follow the signs and you'll hit the waiting room for surgery. That's where Uzumaki went once released according to the notes in his file."

Sakura left the second she heard "Uzumaki" and had given a small wave of thanks as she flew down the hallway. She definitely wasn't running, that would be dangerous, but walking with purpose was efficient. She opened the waiting room door and Naruto wasn't hard to spot, he'd been given scrubs too.

It seemed as though he spotted her first but he ran up and crushed her in a hug. Sakura patted him on the back as she felt the air being forced out of her body.

"You're alright." Naruto finally separated leaving his hands on her shoulders.

Sakura shook her head, smiling. "You knew I was alright. I didn't even get taken in to get checked out."

"I figured, it's just good to see you with stuff like this going on. He's been in surgery for two hours already…"

"He'll probably been in surgery for a while. His injuries were… yeah." Sakura sighed and brought her hand up to wear Naruto had his largest wound just under his left arm.

"Did they heal this okay? Did they say it was going to scar?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it was almost completely healed by the time they got to me, so they said it might scar because it was rough job. I don't mind scars though, ya know?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and sat down in a nearby chair. By god it felt amazing to get off her feet. She peaked up at the screen indicating who was in surgery and what stage they were in. Sasuke had been in for just over two hours. Hopefully it was going well, she knew what a surgery with someone in that state went like. It was a battle, usually a harder battle than the ones that got shinobi into the mess in the first place.

"He's going to pull through. I know he will. He's not one to…"

"You're right. He's too driven to-"

"He shouldn't have taken the fall for me. What was he thinking? I heal faster anyway. It's like that time back in Wave again. What is up with that bastard and jumping in front of me?"

Sakura debated on whether or not to answer since it definitely seemed like Naruto was having the debate with himself more than with her. She placed hand on his arm.

"You're his best friend."

She knew she'd throw herself in front of any enemy for Ino. It didn't matter if it made sense or not. Sometimes when you care about someone you just move – and that's what Sasuke had said years ago in Wave. He didn't make the choice, he just moved. Because that's what friends do. Comrade over mission, always.

"Some friend best friend he is. Always leaving and trying to die and shit. Can't he just keep himself here and healthy for more than six months at a time? He says I'm the loser, but he's always the one getting beat up like a punching bag." Naruto smiled and shook his head.

Sakura flicked his ear, not sure why he found complaining about his best friend to be soothing. "Don't speak ill of someone not here to defend themselves."

"Well then – uh. I'll speak well… what's going on between you and Neji? You two seem to spend a lot of – What the hell! I just got discharged! I was just – "

Sakura nursed her now sore knuckles. "A well adjusted friendship is what's going on, you idiot. Not that you would know anything about one of those."

Naruto sniffed and pouted a little. "I do too…"

"Name one."

"Uh… well… Yo- "

"Don't even try to say me."

"Uh… uh… Shikamaru!"

Sakura leaned back and crossed her arms, contemplating that. They did seem to have a… healthy friendship. Odd. However, her thoughts were thoroughly interrupted when the same medic from earlier entered the room. Sakura's eyes narrowed, she still wasn't fully over the fact she'd been kicked out into the waiting room.

"Uchiha Sasuke's party, please?"

She only seemed a little surprised when Sakura and Naruto practically flew at her.

"How is he? Is he awake? Did he make it?"

Sakura grabbed Naruto's wrist both to get him to stop and to comfort him.

"Sasuke is out of surgery. His condition is critical, so we have to see if he makes it through the night. Once he's set up in a room, we'll come get you."

They both slumped back into their chairs. Naruto looked downright violent. Sakura snagged a scroll from her bag. She had to report to Tsunade. She hadn't done that yet and well, this was critical to report.

* * *

Tsunade looked up from her desk and raised a brow at the person in front of her. If not for years of experience, she'd be surprised.

"What do you need?"

"I made a single request."

Tsunade leaned into her palm, tired. "And I'd like to think I've made good on that request."

He leaned forward onto her desk.

"I think not."

* * *

A/N: I'M SO EXCITED TO WRITE THIS PART OF THE STORY YA'LL HAVE NO IDEA. I have been waiting to write that last moment since I conceptualized the entire thing. Any guesses on who it is?

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I know the pacing has been a little slow with a lot of introspection, but I feel like it's important? Let me know what ya'll think.

Also only a little sorry this is on a cliff-hanger I guess?

Thank you for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated :)


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

Sakura leaned against the tree and took a long drink from her canteen. Her muscles ached, but it felt good to be doing something productive after spending three days walking back to Konoha. It didn't help that there wasn't exactly a welcome party at her return.

"Three weeks, Neji! Three weeks off active duty…in a war! It wasn't that bad."

Neji raised a brow and frowned, leaning on his knees.

"Your crap teamwork almost killed the last Uchiha."

"It wasn't that bad! It's not my fault they didn't follow – stop looking at me like that. You don't even _like_ Sasuke."

"I don't want to see him dead because of your poor leadership skills."

Sakura was on her feet now, any sign that she was exhausted was long gone.

"It's not my fault they didn't listen! I'd like to think I'm a pretty damn good teammate, you should know considering when I am paired with someone it's you."

Neji sighed, not allowing himself to meet her anger.

"We work well together because I know your strengths and weaknesses since we train together."

Sakura frowned, she did work with them. They had trained every day for weeks. They had conditioned and strengthened their jutsu. They even developed several set combos as necessary in situations. Squad Seven was good, but for some reason they hadn't trusted her judgement. It was like they were always in front of her trying to defend her. Did they think she became Cobra by some dumb luck? She had skills for heaven's sakes.

"I know they don't trust me, but what am I supposed to do?"

Neji shrugged, a shadow of a smile hinting.

"I mean you could ask Gai-sensei for some trust-building activites. He's fond of trust falls."

A shiver ran down Sakura's spine at the thought of whatever teambuilding he could come up with. Kakashi was horrifying enough, but the thought of a Gai fueled teambuilding – hell no.

"I think I'll pass. We'll figure something out."

Sakura rolled her shoulders. "Uh – thanks Neji. I have a meeting with Tsunade. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yes. I don't go East for another week."

* * *

Tsunade was uncharacteristically productive and silent as Sakura walked in and sat down across from her desk. Sakura tried to peak at what she was writing, but all she received was a small glare. She crossed her legs and resigned to staring out the window.

The sun was setting and as usual, Konoha's beauty battled that of the fiery skies. Sakura admired it before turning back to her mentor. She claimed the meeting was urgent. And now she was doing paperwork?

Finally, she put down her pen and leaned on laced fingers.

"I have a problem."

Sakura nodded.

"There's a patient who has an extremely complex condition. It requires a complex surgery and I need another hand."

Shizune was always the person to help out with surgeries. She had more experience and while both of them claimed Sakura had more natural talent, Shizune worked with Tsunade in an unrivaled manner. It was honestly a pleasure to observe the surgeries.

"Well, I can go switch with Shizune in the East-"

"No. I need you to assist. I have an extremely specific poison which will need to be develop and administered. Considering you have three weeks off, this should be no issue. I need it in two weeks."

Tsunade pushed the paper she'd be writing on across the table. Sakura scanned it, frowned and pushed it back.

"I'll kill your patient."

"That's why there must be an antidote."

Sakura gnawed her lip. She could create a poison to kill someone, that was easy. She had dozens of them already. However, a poison to bring someone so close to the brink of death that they were seemingly dead to everyone around them? Not totally impossible, but this person was going to be laying out on an operating table. People can _see_ their heart. There's no weak heartbeat. The heart has to stop completely.

"I told you it wasn't plausible."

Sakura froze. The voice was daringly familiar, but also far smoother than the person she thought it belonged to. She turned the fact shared a similar resemblance. She pounced back to the opposite corner of the room.

"I told you to stay out of sight until after I explained."

Tsunade hadn't even flinched. She barely even moved her head. _Uchiha Itachi_ was in the room and she wasn't even fazed. Sakura dared herself to look toward him, his sharingan wasn't active, but he she could feel every ounce of his presence.

"Sakura, sit."

Sakura turned her gaze to mentor, and must have looked as incredulous as ever because Tsunade rubbed her temples.

"I'm too tired for this crap. Here, read this."

A scroll was flung into Sakura's reach. It was a mission report scroll and judging by the color it was an S-Rank. Sakura fidgeted peeled it open, sparing a glance at Itachi one more time before reading.

 _Mission 10278_

 _Uchiha Elimination_

Sakura's heart caught in her throat as she remembered her conversation with Sasuke from on heir way to Sound. Maybe she didn't know everything. This could very well just be the mission that determined the cause of the massacre, but Sakura had a good feeling Sasuke had a point. And she had never wanted him to be more wrong.

 _Mission Instructions: Uchiha Itachi to eliminate the entirety of the Uchiha clan on June 18_ _th_ _after dusk._

 _Status: Complete – Single survivor – Uchiha Sasuke_

The last line was written shakily. Sakura ran her fingers over the seal just under the status. The Hokage's seal felt real. She funneled chakra into it and the seal tingled back in a way so familiar. Usually, knowing something wasn't a forgery was comforting, but right now, Sakura wanted to vomit.

"This can't… I mean…Does Sasuke…"

Sakura tried not to allow the tears to flow as she thought of Sasuke and how he had suffered for years knowing the clan had been killed by his brother. But Itachi had put him and Kakashi in a coma, it didn't make sense. Why would the village order Itachi to kill the clan? It didn't make sense.

"Sasuke is aware." Tsunade's gaze hadn't left the door of her office, straight ahead, the entire time.

Sakura looked up at Itachi.

"Why?"

He almost seemed to shrug, as he didn't even move from his slouch against the pillar.

"It was the lives of the clan or the entire village. They were planning a coup. I saved thousands of innocents from people who were going to kill them."

Sakura felt her stomach churn. She'd used the same philosophy for years now. Killing didn't matter as long as she saved innocents. But this had been his _family_. It was different. So different. She wasn't killing her own family.

 _You're killing people_ with _families_ , her inner self spat.

Sakura swallowed down some bile and took a long breath. Not here, not now. She could flick her moral compass back into position some other time.

"I'll do it. Fill me in on the right."

Sakura sat back and saved her fidgeting for the chewing on her cheek.

* * *

The fact Sakura's ceiling fan could use dusting was a thought that had crossed her mind no less than seven times as she tried to find sleep. However, between the thoughts of the cleanliness of her ceiling fan, the new information rushed through her head with vigor.

Itachi had been forced to kill his clan. Yes, she knew this.

He spared Sasuke. Thankfully.

Naturally, he was deemed a criminal, joined the Akatsuki and kept tabs on them for the Hokage. Fine, makes sense.

The nature of Itachi's mission was revealed to lure Sasuke back to Konoha. And Sasuke still refused see Itachi. That made less sense to Sakura, but Sasuke's logic on things had never made much sense to her anyway.

Itachi had made it clear Sasuke must remain safe if he was to kill the clan. Sasuke had almost died a week ago. So, he came in. But he also had a second motive, he was extremely ill and his vision was fading. The Akatsuki were also plotting large scale attack with the Mist.

Something about how the mist traded their tailed beast for an alliance. Idiots – didn't they have any sense of the long term? Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose. Focus. Itachi. Right.

He needed to die. He was already horrifically ill and nearly blind. His charts were horrific and indicated he was in severe pain. Sakura frowned, closing her eyes and picturing the words. But, he needed to seem dead, and there was a spy in the hospital. They'd use this to their advantage.

If they could kill him, the Akatsuki and Mist would think Konoha had lost one of the greatest ninja ever produced. He would become a secret weapon, again.

Itachi's words echoed in her brain. He had killed his own family to save the thousands of innocents in Konoha. It made sense, but… there had to be another way.

Sakura couldn't help but have several of her missions fly through her brain. All the times she could've let someone retreat or surrender. All the times were she had made sure there were no survivors. All to make sure Konoha's citizens were safe. The way she could have just let Kabuto stay in Konoha.

She had always given in so easily. Always assumed the killing and giving over Kabuto was the best method. Screw their families and their lives, they were trying to kill her and her loved ones. But, that logic had killed Sasuke's family. Sakura threw her pillow across the room.

Shinobi had to kill people. That was the nature of it and that was it.

* * *

Something about Neji walking into a damp basement with a basket of flowers and herbs was enough to brighten Sakura's day.

"You look so dainty."

"Don't insult me when I'm helping you." Sakura spun her chair around and took the basket.

"Generally," she began, mulling over the flowers and herbs. "Dainty is a compliment."

Neji leaned against the door frame and shook his head.

"I'm a boy with long hair. The pretty boy mentality gets old."

Sakura shrugged, itemizing the plants.

"I'm pretty over the damsel in the distress trope, I get it."

Neji leaned over her desk. "These plants aren't inherently lethal. Is it a sedative?"

"Of sorts. It'll make someone appear dead for up to an hour without killing them… if I get it right."

"And if you get it wrong?"

Sakura frowned at the mice. "I lose a few rodent friends."

"Well don't tell Lee, you know how he is about animals."

Sakura chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Wholesome creatures, or yeah. Tenten and I are getting a little dinner tonight before she leaves if you want to come?"

Neji shook his head. "I'll go because you're probably not going to make it."

Sakura frowned as he left.

But, as the sunset and Sakura injected her third mouse for the evening, she realized he may have a point. She was so close to getting it. The last mouse had almost made it. Sakura raked her fingers through her hair as she delivered the antidote.

Thirty minutes passed. The mouse was still nearly dead.

Forty-five minutes.

An hour.

Sakura stood up, kicking over the chair. She'd been at this all day. She was good at this, so why was she failing? She closed her eyes and took a long breath.

Dinner with Tenten would serve her well, she needed to get out of this basement.

* * *

Sakura held the bag of tomatoes and knocked on the apartment door. She'd never come to Sasuke's apartment before. Thirteen-year-old her would be squealing right now if she was here and knocking his door, but sixteen year old Sakura was fidgeting silently. And not because she was in love with the man inside.

Well, yes, she loved him. But in the way one loves their pet dog. She cared about him and wanted the best for him, but the last she needed in her life right now was a relationship. No matter how hard Tenten and Ino pushed her to find a crush because between them there were five boys they were interested in and Sakura obviously need to add to that pool.

Sakura hadn't really had the time or care to worry about liking a boy. That luxury usually isn't afforded to people who had kill, heal, and convince list hundreds of people long. Finally, she head rustling on the other side of the door.

"Sakura."

Sakura smiled and thrust out the tomatoes.

"I thought I would check in. I hadn't seen you since you got back to Konoha."

She surveyed him for a moment. He was in sweats and his hair was definitely more out of place than usual. It was odd seeing him so dishelved.

"Appreciated."

"Uh – can I come in?"

He paused and looked back for a moment.

"I should be getting more rest."

"I'll be quick really." She saw him ready to decline again.

"It's about your brother."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a brief moment before she stepped to the side.

"Come in."

Sakura surveyed his apartment. It was nearly bare, full of the basics with no touches of home. She sat on the couch and frowned.

"What?"

"You should go see him."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"You know."

Sakura nodded. "Recently, I found out. You should really-"

"This isn't any of your business."

"I can get in a lot of trouble for telling you, but Sasuke, go see him. We're not sure we can save him."

Sakura licked her lips and stared him down.

"Get out."

Sasuke wasn't even looking at her anymore.

"Sasuke-"

"-out."

Sakura tightened her jaw and stood up.

"Fine. Enjoy the tomatoes."

Sakura snapped the door shut and headed back in to work on the poison. If he wasn't going to see his brother before he died, she was going to have to make damn sure she brought him back.

* * *

Three hours into recreating the poison, Sakura leaned back and rubbed her eyes. This had to be right. Last time she had a little too much of one flower, but this time she added less and also upped added an additional herb to the antidote.

The gentle squeaking behind her was maddening. She really didn't like testing on mice, they were cute despite being a little annoying. But, she couldn't test on humans and she tried to swallow the thought before it came out, but it dashed through her brain: _The end justifies the means_.

Sakura stood up and realized a run wouldn't be the worst idea. Switching into her work out clothes she kept in her locker, she set off on her favorite path through the forest. She appreciated the fact she always focused on her breathing while running. It was difficult to have intrusive thoughts while counting.

Except, just outside the tree line two heads of black hair caught her attention and removed her from her counting. Sasuke and Itachi were sitting on the edge of the water together.

Sasuke weaved a stone through his fingers before skipping it. Six hops. Itachi met him with a glint of challenge Sakura was all too familiar with and sent his own stone dancing around the pond. Eight hops. Sakura cringed, all too familiar with how well Sasuke took to losing. But, Itachi made a passing comment she couldn't hear.

And Sasuke laughed.

She could hear it from the distance she was at she the sound warmed her body. Sasuke hadn't been unhappy since he came back, but he certainly wasn't a pleasant person to be around. And she had never heard him laugh, even as children. She smiled softly and continued on her run.

In all the talk about murder and killing she'd forgotten her healing. She'd forgotten about all the families she brought back together by saving lives from the brink of death.

Itachi needed to stay alive, if only to make it so her teammate had a piece of joy in his life.

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long D: It's the curse of a cliff hanger I think. But, it's here and a little longer than average. How did you guys like the arrival of our new friend :)?

Lots of contemplation for Sakura again, it's a theme so sorry if you find it annoying.

And Neji is back! Sorry, for his absence, rekindling Team 7 is hard with him there. But he's back and as friendly as ever.

Let me know what you guys think! I'm a sucker for reviews. :)

Thank you for reading!


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

Sakura's body hadn't hurt this bad since she was genin. She didn't even have to strength to open her eyes. Kakashi had kicked their ass.

As expected, he was upset. He'd always had high expectations. Hell, they had spent the last few years training with sannin. They should be damn near unstoppable. But one training session with Kakashi and she could barely move.

Thankfully, the other two were in the same boat. Even Naruto could barely sit up and he had more stamina than anyone she'd ever encountered. Sasuke had lumped himself against a tree so he wasn't sprawled out on the ground.

Kakashi had summoned them to the training ground and proceeded to put them through the wringer. Sakura almost wished she had decided to go with Gai instead because at least he would have been encouraging through it.

Every time they failed or began to stop he just smile and said, "Is that _all_ you can do?"

And like the competitive idiots they all were they kept going until their muscles were practically liquid.

Much to his distain, Sasuke had dropped first. But he was also fresh out of being bed-ridden. Sakura dropped not even two minutes after. And Kakashi had forced Naruto down six minutes later.

"You three are better as a team, remember that. Because you look pretty pathetic right now after going at it alone."

Sakura stopped trying to open her eyes and just soaked in the words and sun. He had a point. Had this been a bell test or anything that was based in groups, they would have won. There's no way he'd be able to take them on a team, but alone, it was useless.

"Well, same time tomorrow. I'd suggest an ice bath once you can move. Later!"

And with a gentle pop, he was gone. There was chorus of groans from Squad Seven, if they remembered correctly day one of their training with Kakashi was always hard. But, day two was _worse_.

And worse it was. Kakashi had set up a game of capture of flag with Team Ten. Naruto was watching the flag, while Sasuke and Sakura took to hunting Team Ten's flag. Choji had stayed back, interestingly enough.

Sakura made a few hand signals and Sasuke threw several shuriken out, revealing himself from the trees. Choji and him danced for a moment and Sakura stayed put, ready to jump in and take the flag when Choji was just a little further from the flag.

But a small black stream of shadow caught her attention from her right. _Shikamaru_. Sakura dashed toward where the base of the shadow was, only to be met with Ino.

Damn it, they hadn't even bothered to split up. Clever.

Sakura and Ino flew through a series of kicks and punches. Each met with a block, and thank god Sasuke had noticed the shadow and was now dancing around with Shikamaru and Choji.

Sakura took a small vial from her pouch as she pounced back from Ino. Charging back toward her she blocked her kick and pricked her with a syringe.

"What the hell!"

Ino jumped back onto a branch and looked at her ankle.

"Forget that I carry around poisons, pig?"

Ino slumped against the trunk of the tree, sweating.

"This is a training, forehead!"

Sakura shrugged. "Kakashi always taught us to train with intent to kill. Be happy it's only a paralysis one."

Flashing her best friend a cheeky grin, she fiddled to grab her second vial. Shikamaru spun too soon, and Sakura had to retreat to avoid his kunai.

Sasuke was blowing flame pellets at Choji, who was dodging while rolling around. Though his roll changed course and became a circle that pushed Sasuke and Sakura back to back.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and Sakura wrinkled her nose.

"Thirty-two, Sasuke."

Sasuke went to reject her, but held up her hand.

"Trust me, okay?"

Choji had finally come to a halt and Shikamaru's shadow was going right for them before they scattered. Sakura ran for the flag, but Choji blocked her with a large hand sending her into the tree line. He then blew up into a ball and was racing toward her.

Scrambling to her knees, she thrust her fist into the ground, sending Choji off course. Sasuke cursed and hopped back into the trees because Shikamaru had far more shadows to work with now. With a large breath and few hand signs he blew a large fire ball to force Shikamaru out of the way.

Sakura threw three exploding tagged kunai to the corners of the grounds, one whizzing past Choji's head. Choji and Shikamaru ducked, but Shikamaru ceased the opportunity and pushed his shadow toward Sakura from his crouch.

His shadow caught someone, but it wasn't Sakura. Naruto was standing where she stood and Sakura was flying through the air. She winced as she saw the flag coming, but snatched it and braced for impact.

"I should have realized you wouldn't stay put," Shikamaru groaned, releasing Naruto.

With a pop, Kakashi appeared in the middle of the field.

"Thank you Team Ten, and Squad Seven, you passed. Now, don't make me do this again."

And then, his expression shifted and his eye squinted into a grin.

"Goodbye!"

Naruto eyes narrowed. "I don't get that guy."

"That makes two of us, Naruto," Sakura sighed, healing her the shoulder she landed on.

* * *

Sakura knocked on the door the hospital room, and upon consent walked in. Itachi had grown pale, and was even thinner than before. She frowned.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Well, but that doesn't matter, does it?"

Sakura shrugged.

"I suppose not. But, is it nice to see clearly?" Sakura held a hand up to his temples and examined the chakra coils surrounding his eyes.

"It's pleasant, yes."

Sakura chuckled, earning herself a raised eyebrow and shrugged.

"You don't have to be so formal, you know."

Itachi let out a light sigh and moved his fingers through his hair.

"Apologies, Sakura. It's difficult getting back into…"

"Not talking with terrorists all the time?" Sakura's offered a small chuckle and Itachi returned it with a warm smile, much to her surprise.

"Something like that."

Sakura pocketed her stethoscope and waved her hands over his body one last time.

"Well, you're all cleared for surgery. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Sakura nodded and left the room. Itachi looked like Sasuke, but he was so different. He didn't go out of his way to make conversation, but he would readily engage in pleasantries. Heck, he would even laugh sometimes despite it causing a coughing fit.

It'd be good for Sasuke to have his brother back. Maybe he'd pull out the stick eternally shoved up his ass.

* * *

It had been ages since Sakura had actually opened anyone up to operate on them. Typically, she could use a chakra scalpel and do it laparoscopically. However, with needing to show the spy in the room that Itachi had died, he needed to be opened. Also, they mind have had to regardless because the damage to his body was extensive.

It was a miracle he was able to breath still, let alone move and fight like he had been. The surgery had been six hours so far and they were finally nearing the end. Sakura had a vial sealed under her glove, all it would take was a little chakra and the poison would be administered. Left hand for the poison and right for the antidote.

The signal to administer was an announcement that they were almost done and doing a final check for abnormalities. Sakura worked diligently until then because even without him being poisoned, this surgery was risky and he was bleeding a lot. They had gone through several blood transfusions already.

And Sakura really kept trying to not want to demolish the small girl handing her any instruments she needed. Aiko was what she went by. Sakura had helped her with her initial orientation. She seemed like a sweet, mild manner girl. And yet, she was the one working for the enemy. No expected such a tiny girl to be a threat. She was a perfect spy.

"Here is-"

"Don't talk. I'm focusing," Sakura snapped, as she took a clamp.

She felt Tsunade's warning gaze. But she didn't care. This girl was the one that leaked details of this mission to Mist and had almost gotten Sasuke killed. And now, she was wishing death on his brother. Screw that, and screw being pleasant.

 _This is a mission, be at least a little professional_ , her inner self chided.

"Let's do one final sweep, we should be close to finishing."

Sakura funneled chakra into her wrist and plunged the vial into him and then sealed it away as quickly as she took it out.

Five seconds. He was fine.

Ten seconds. Nothing yet.

Thirty – and the beeping began. The monitors began beeping and all hell broke loose as his blood pressure dropped and his heart ceased to beat.

Tsunade and Sakura scrambled to massage and shock as needed. But Sakura kept her eyes on the clock. Five minutes after administering the poison she needed to put in the antidote. But his heart wouldn't restart for another hour after.

Because it _was_ going to restart. This was going to work.

She glanced at the clock and funneled chakra into her right hand. Seconds later the antidote was administered.

Tsunade hung her hand and slammed her fists.

"Damn it. Time of death, three oh seven."

The room froze and Sakura saw the quickest glint of humor flickered across Aiko's face and she swore she was going to kill her.

"Everyone except Sakura out. I want to close alone."

It wasn't entirely unusual. It was unusual for Tsunade to lose anyone in surgery, but for her to lose one of the best shinobi the Leaf had ever produced? That would be a hard blow.

And knowing her temper, it didn't take long for everyone to scurry out.

After a moment Tsunade sighed and began to close.

"Go inform Sasuke."

Sakura nodded.

"I'll let him know everything went well and that Itachi will-"

"You will let him know the surgery was a failure."

" _What?_ Lady Tsunade, this is his only family. We can't – I can't – I don't understand why he can't know."

"If the fact Itachi is alive is leaked to anyone, it could mean the death of thousands. This is a top brass secret. Sasuke may not know."

The death of thousands.

The words bounced through her head several times and she swallowed and took a sobering breath.

"Fine."

She took out her gloves and chucked them in the waste basket.

Frankly, she didn't expect to find Sasuke in the waiting room. He just didn't seem like the type. But, low and behold, he was there. Leaning over, hands clasped, and his foot was tapping. Sakura took another breath and continued walking toward him.

He looked up at her and he knew before she could open mouth. Sakura was sure her face said it all with its tightness and how she was fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

It wasn't good news. And his face dropped in a way she had never seen.

"Say it," he spat.

"The surgery was – it didn't work…" She paused, for her voice was about to crack.

"Uchiha Itachi died on the table, my sincere-"

Sasuke stood up and the chair flew with him as he stalked away.

The lives of thousands. Saving the lives of thousands.

She chanted to herself mentally. She was saving lives.

He would be okay. He would mourn and mend.

 _He'll mourn and mend over a brother who is alive and well,_ part of herself snapped.

Sakura let herself out through the nearest window and took the rooftops, heading for a training ground.

This was a shinobi's life. Shinobi had to lie and threaten and kill. And the life of a medic was to save all those she could. And today she'd done both.

She had also saved a thousand lives today.

And betrayed a teammate in the process.

 _Those that abandon the mission are trash. Those that abandon their teammates are worse than trash._

 _Saves as many allies as possible no matter what the cost._

The two mantras echoed through her brain she punched through boulder after boulder. The tears flowed freely because fuck this. And fuck Aiko.

* * *

Torture and Interrogation was always musty. It was underground and chilly. It was honestly no wonder they all wore trench coats.

"Sakura, you're not usually one to be so violent."

Inoichi was an unusually pleasant person considering what he did for a living. Though, she supposed he did more interrogation than torture.

"Her actions nearly killed my team on a mission where I was captain. I don't ask for favors often…"

Inoichi sighed and leaned into his palm. He wasn't one to play favorites, but she was practically his second daughter. He already had trouble telling Ino 'no', let alone her best friend.

"I will allow you to carry out the execution. It is to be a clean cut. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded.

"She'll be ready in thirty minutes."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. She figured it would be in days, maybe weeks. But today? She clenched her jaw and nodded anyway, heading back out into the hallway.

Aiko needed to pay and it was only fair is she dealt it. Maybe it would help and make her feel better. She sank down against the wall and ran her fingers through her hair.

Aiko had been taken into custody yesterday once it was confirmed Mist knew about Itachi's death. And apparently, trials moved quickly because she was sentenced to death today.

"Sakura?"

Inoichi poked out from a door further down the hall and Sakura nodded.

She entered Aiko's cell and unsheathed her sword, before slicing her throat. With a muffled groan, it was the end of Aiko.

Sakura winced as the blood splattered. She looked down, not exactly able to hold her head high, and flicked the blood off before sheathing.

She didn't feel any better.

* * *

A/N: Poor poor Sakura is having such a rough time. What do ya'll think about Sakura's motto?

It honestly hurt my heart to write the end of this chapter. I'd been dreading breaking Sasuke's heart since I started.

Let me know what you guys think!

Thank you for reading! :D


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

* * *

The mess hall in the East was equally as loud and rambunctious as the one in the west was. With everything winding down in the west, nearly all forces had been moved to the Eastern front. Not that any of the Konoha twelve minded. Most of them were finally together now, save for Ino and Sasuke. Ino was busy with T&I in Konoha, and Sasuke was sorting out his brother's affairs and would join them eventually.

"Guys, they executed someone yesterday!" Kiba was almost as bad Tenten when it came to dramatizing gossip.

"Executions happen almost daily in a time of war, Kiba," Shino sighed, pushing around some pees.

"No-no! Like a big shot!"

Sakura was perked up, finally some gossip she could get behind. A bit shot being executed? That was news. But then again, this was Kiba.

"Oh yeah! I did hear something like that." Tenten turned her attention to Hinata. "Have you heard anything from your dad?"

"He – uh – doesn't really include me in the politics. Sorry, Ten –"

"Yeah it's fine. Neji, what about you?"

Neji sighed and went to open his mouth but Lee burst out first. "It was Danzo! Guy sensei mentioned it! I wasn't supposed to hear, but I did!"

"Who the hell is Danzo?" Naruto chimed in. "Can't be that big of a big shot!"

"He used to be a commander of a special section of ANBU," Shino said.

Sakura wracked her brain. She knew that name, she knew it. He had been one of Lord Third's teammates, but no, that wasn't what she really knew him from. And then it hit her. His name was on the scroll ordering Itachi's mission.

"Wow, what did the sandwich do to you?" Naruto was looking in horror at the sandwich suddenly crushed in her hand.

"Nothing." Sakura threw it onto her tray and stalked out of the mess hall. It was about time for her to get to her shift anyway.

* * *

Working with another head medic around was honestly a gift. Shizune had clearly been running a tight ship around here since the war started. Everyone was efficient and effective, even the new kids who usually ran around like spooked horses.

Sakura sighed as she ran her hands over Lee's limp arms.

"Tell Neji I said to tone it down a notch, Lee. This is the third time this week."

"No can do! We have to spar at our best to get better!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, but grinned.

"Yeah, I know that. I trained with you guys, remember?"

Lee rolled his shoulders as she released the collapsed chakra points.

"Come train with us again soon. It's not as fun without you!"

Sakura agreed as she ushered Lee out the tent. She really hadn't trained with them as whole is ages. She'd spent so much time working with Squad Seven, she'd only sparred with each of Team Nine a handful of times in the past few weeks.

She scanned down the list of patients she was to see for the day, barring any emergencies. A lot of people she knew with a few broken bones. Heat exhaustion was huge as well because so many forgot to drink water in the hot humid climate. And finally a physical for… no. Sakura frowned and stalked off to find another nurse.

Sakura hadn't seen Sasuke since she told him about Itachi and frankly she didn't want to. From she'd heard from Naruto, he wasn't coming out of his apartment. And when Naruto finally broke into it, the entire place was destroyed from him throwing and bashing things. Naruto stuck around for the funeral, but Sasuke couldn't.

They had given him fake ashes, as disgusting as it was. A loose statemet was made clearing Itachi's name and stating other forces were at work behind the massacre. Danzo had even been executed apparently. Thank god. But, Sakura couldn't look Sasuke in the eye right now. She couldn't lie to him again and again about the fact Itachi was dead when she knew damn well he was just hidden away in the Hokage tower.

She needed to prepare for this and sixty-five minutes was just not enough time. But all the other nurses and medics were busy. Damn it.

Sakura walked over to the last tent on the right and Shizune looked up as Sakura entered.

"Uchiha Sasuke is clear."

"His evaluation isn't for another hour."

"He passed his psyche eval?"

Shizune opened a drawer and flipped through a file.

"Yes, back in Konoha."

"Then he's physically fine. A death in the family doesn't destroy muscle mass."

Shizune twisted her pencil in her hand for a moment.

"He did have a procedure done."

Sakura frowned.

"A procedure?"

Shizune motioned for Sakura to sit and she did.

"With Itachi's passing, Sasuke activated a new sharingan. He did some reading during his…time off. And announced how he needed Itachi's eyes. Tsunade had thought ahead and kept his eyes for research and they were implanted."

Sakura nodded. Then what had happened to Itachi's eyes. Were they switched with Sasuke's? That wouldn't make sense if something was wrong with Sasuke's eyes. But, Itachi would be useless as a weapon without the sharingan. Well, not completely useless. He was excellent in all parts of shinobi life, but his surprise lay in him eyes. Tsunade wouldn't just give those away.

"So, you need me to examine his – Itachi's eyes?"

Shizune leaned forward. "Yes, it's in his chart."

Sakura nodded and left without saying anything. So, not only did she have to see Sasuke now, but she had to examine Itachi's eyes in his sockets. _Great_.

Sakura ducked into the tent and tried to smile upon seeing him.

"Uh hey. How are you?"

She fidgeted with her light as she scanned his chart.

"Psyche cleared me. Don't worry."

Sakura over and shown the light in his eyes, examining their reactions. They were definitely Itachi's eyes. Sasuke's had been darker this.

"Anyone smarter than an average genin can bullshit a psyche evaluation. You have your brother's eyes in you, Sasuke."

Unfortunately for him, she was close enough to see his eye twitch.

"It was the least he could do, considering he…" Sasuke sighed and shut his eyes, before glancing back up at Sakura.

His stare had hardened, but Sakura could feel the anger and regret radiating off of him. He had spent so long admiring his brother, only to have it turn into undying hatred. And when he realized his hatred wasn't correctly placed and finally had his brother back, Itachi had been...taken away.

Sakura swallowed back the lump in her throat. And she was right in the middle of destroying him.

"Activate your sharingan, please."

"Regular or mangeyko?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Regular. Or. Mangeyko."

Sakura tried to not look like an idiot as she wracked her brain for the information involved.

"Regular for now."

Sakura's hand hovered as she examined the re-attached chakra coils and appreciated the beautiful work of her mentor.

"Now, uh, Mangeyko." Sakura didn't remove her hand and was in awe of the way the chakra rushed even further toward the eyes. The coils expanded and the eyes changed shape.

"Please deactivate now."

Sakura jotted down a few notes.

"You're clear. But, try not to use the Mangeyko for at least another week. Your chakra coils are still healing at the attachment point. Any questions?"

The silence between them probably only lasted a second but it was deafening. She knew it was coming.

"You did everything you could to save him?"

Sakura thought of every 'him' saved from her lying about Itachi's death. She thought of how she fought Tsunade of telling Sasuke. She had done everything she really had.

So, she nodded. She still felt like a liar.

"You knew he was going to die. That's why you…"

"I knew the surgery was risky. I'm happy you got to be with him more before it."

Sasuke nodded and before he could keep pressing, Sakura left. He was cleared. Any medical questions could be directed toward someone else. Her shift was over.

* * *

Kakashi tossed the file back at Sakura.

"Absolutely not."

"Why the hell not! You don't have anyone else to take it right now. I'm qualified-"

"You're one of our best medics. I'm not sending you on a suicide mission." Kakashi rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I've been sent on plenty of suicide missions, what makes this one different? If this is a success we can change the course of the war!"

Sakura may have decided that using her clearance to go through all of the A and S rank missions available was a good use of her time when she got off from the hospital. She'd stumbled upon a mission to take down the two Akatsuki members who had killed Asuma.

"You are the worst match possible for one of them. He is a long-range fighter. He kills based on obtaining blood. Everything you do requires getting up close. _No_."

"Between Team Ten and Squad Seven would be a good match. With myself as a medical support. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Ino have fantastic long range – "

"Sakura. I'm not sending Sasuke on a S-Rank mission directly after surgery and after an extended absence. I said no. But you're correct, Naruto, another jonin, and Team Ten would be a good fit."

Sakura was not pouting. Pouting would be childish and was a grown woman now.

"To ease the blow, I have a B-Rank mission for your squad."

"I want a solo mission."

Kakashi groaned.

"Having a death wish in a war is not a good thing, Sakura."

Sakura went to protest because she didn't have a death wish. She just did _not_ want to have to deal with all the political crap right now.

"But, I figured. I will give you one if this is a success."

"You're the best, sensei."

Kakashi sighed and leaned back in his chair as she flashed him her favorite cheeky smile. She may not have gotten exactly what she wanted, but she came out with two missions instead of one.

* * *

Naruto huffed and leaned back against the branch.

"This is dumb. Why do three of us need to be here?"

"We're been through this. There's twenty five of them." Sakura leaned down from her branch and flicked him in the ear.

"Aaah. Twenty-five civilians. I'm not even worried."

"Twenty-five _bandits_ , entrusted with a dang important message. Can you sit up?"

Sakura didn't really blame Naruto. It definitely wasn't a difficult mission. But, it was a crucial one. Apparently, a message was being transferred by this gang according to one of their informants. Leaving a message with bandits was clever considering most important things were delivered by shinobi. If it wasn't for the spy, this message would be plenty safe.

"Three o'clock."

Sakura glanced over to Sasuke. He'd barely said a word the entire time. Naruto had spent their entire time traveling egging him on and not even one witty remark. It was nauseating.

But, not wasn't exactly the time to dissect Sasuke's feelings. The caravan was coming around the bend.

"Bear." Sakura fiddled through three hand signs and Naruto nodded, creating a several clones.

Seconds later, all three were in action. Sakura shattered the ground in front of the group, they weren't going anywhere. The horses reared and the bandits were battle ready. But so were forty-three shadows clones. Sakura knocked out three men on her way to the man who was clearly the leader.

But, Sasuke coming in from the other end, got to him first. Sakura turned her attention to the two men behind her, kicking one and hooking the other.

"Acquired."

"Nice, Fox."

Naruto sighed and walked over from where he had knocked out the last of the men.

"No survivors?"

Both men looked at Sakura and for the first time in her life she hesitated. Half the bandits weren't dead. They weren't a threat, she could just leave them. But what if they figured out who had been here? What if they were somehow able to use clues from this to track back to the informant?

"No survivors."

Survivors brought people back even stronger and angrier than before.

 _I'm sure their families won't seek vengeance, nope_ , a part of her sassed. She quickly swatted it away. She use to be so good at repressing that stupid little nagging in her head, especially when she was on missions. Saving innocent allied lives was all that was important.

Sakura and Naruto leapt back and Sakura averted her eyes and Sasuke ravished the area with his fireballs.

It took forty minutes for the fire to destroy the area. Sakura swallowed bile at the smell of flesh and was happy she couldn't see Naruto's face. He'd never taken well to brutality, but fire was the most efficient.

Sakura made a few seals and used one of the few water jutsu she knew. Despite it being her affinity, she rarely used it.

She turned away as fast and she could from the sight the water left behind. Not that there was much. Some bones and a lot of wet mud and ashes.

Squad Seven left back toward the base, not exchanging any words. Successfully completing a mission like this didn't exactly give them much to talk about.

Killing shinobi was fine. They signed up for that life. But civilians? Even if they were bandits, they didn't know the extent of what enemy shinobi could do. It wasn't fair.

None of it was.

* * *

A/N: Kinda a transitional chapter. I had a few bases to touch on and this was the train the touches rolled through on. Hope it was interesting and a nice read nonetheless!

Let me know what you :)

Thank you for reading!


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

* * *

Kakashi had said he didn't want to send her on any suicide missions. So, when she got the scroll detailing the mission she earned from the lovely success of Squad Seven's mission, she actually had asked if it was the wrong one.

"It's the only one available. And it was made for you."

He certainly wasn't wrong. It was an assassination mission, shocker. The assassination of the Land of Water's feudal lord. And if there was ever a time he would be under and intense lock and key, it would be now. The Allies, as Snow, Sound, Sand, Rivers, and Konoha called themselves, had been pushing aggressively north and west. And everyone knew things would head into a tailspin economically if the feudal lord was killed.

And no one wanted an economic disaster in the middle of a war.

There were two huge missions taking place concurrently. Naruto, Team Ten, and Yamato, had taken off to track and kill the two Akatsuki members who killed Asuma. Apparently the Akatsuki had somehow gotten allied with the enemies, so their attention would be there.

Also, about fifteen miles from where the feudal lord was being locked down, Sasuke, Neji and Kiba were sent to raise hell. The mission scroll was actually comical: Create a distraction of epic proportions to bring attention to there and away from the feudal lord.

The plan made sense. No one would suspect a nation would send teams out on two S-Rank and one A-Rank mission at the same time in the same area. Because it was _insane_.

Kiba had howled in joy and had concocted what essentially was the prank to end all pranks. Naturally, Neji and Sasuke tried to seem indifferent on such childish and trivial matters, but the glint in Sasuke's eyes when mentioned he could now create a giant being called Susanoo. And also offered up setting a few snakes loose.

Once Sasuke had offered up his suggestions, Neji definitely mentioned how he had procured a rabbit summon and they were devlish creatures if provoked.

The only cue Sakura had been given was what would clearly be the mass exit of guards from the feudal lord's hideout because it was going to be that dramatic.

And hot damn. Those boys were right. Sakura perched herself in the tree just outside the barrier and even see could see the tornado of – god were those dogs? – and purple sword cutting down trees and _throwing_ them. This wasn't just a distraction, it was damn mayhem.

Sakura shook her head and curbed her silent chuckling at the tactics. Hell, whatever worked, their war tactics weren't required to be professional, just effective.

She focused her sights on the home below her. She slipped down from her branch and walked toward the place. The barrier she hit was expected, but it didn't lessen the effects anymore.

The air around her seemed to thicken into liquid and her body was underwater. She closed her eyes and focused the the chakra spinning around her. She could feel it, she was in a genjutsu. It a darn good one, mentally suffocating your opponent was a good way to make focus difficult. She was holding her breath even though she knew it was all an illusion.

She tugged her hands together, forming a seal. Centering her chakra while low oxygen wasn't easy, but she concentrated her chakra and propelled it into the universe.

"Release!"

Air filled her lungs and she fell to a knee. God, that was brutal. And now there was no way her entrance wasn't a surprise. She cursed and scurried into a nearby bush. She eyed the building, trying to remember the floorplan and she had seen where the guards were, but then again the good guards wouldn't be seen.

She frowned, there was a reason this was an S-Rank mission. It wasn't supposed to be easy to infiltrate. She spotted the small hidden entrance she had seen on the floorplan – if she was hiding a feudal lord, she'd certainly put him underground.

Sakura patted through her supplies one last time before making a run for the entrance. Naturally, it was locked. But with a chakra fueled tug, it was removed in a flash. She slipped into the hole and shimmed down the hallway. She couldn't even walk straight.

There were voices down where she was heading and that was as good of a lead as any.

"-dogs, man. There are dogs flying."

"There are not dogs flying. That's just not how shit works man."

"Look for your damn self after, it's a like a zoo – what the?"

Sakura had spit a small dart into his leg and reloaded to go for the second. This one wasn't lethal. Hopefully she picked the right man to stay alive and get her info. By the time she spit the second dart, the first man had dropped and was coughing.

"East – it came – east," the first one sputtered, bloody spurting from his mouth.

Sakura launched herself at the second man, not even waiting for the poison to take effect. Using the element of surprise and momentum she took him down and knelt on chest, kunai to the neck.

"Where is he?"

"Go to hell."

Sakura nicked his neck.

"Where. Is. He."

He spit in her face and it took everything in her power not to slice his throat right then. But then, he started writhing a little.

"The fuck did you do, bitch?"

Sakura smirked, the poison was working. It was gnarly one that make one feel like they were burning from the inside you.

"I have an antidote. I'll consider leaving you unconscious instead of dead if you help me." Sakura wished for a moment she wasn't in ANBU gear. ANBU, especially Cobra, weren't exactly known for letting people live.

"I'm not an idiot. Go to hell."

Sakura dug the kunai in all the way into his neck. Screw him, he wasn't talking and she really wasn't planning to leave him alive even if he did. Except now she was back in the same predicament of not knowing where to go. If she had oriented herself correctly, the hallway she was in should loop, technically it didn't matter.

Right it was then. She broke into a run, trying her best to feel for other chakras in the area, but she had never been much of a sensor. Part of her wished she had a Hyuuga with her. In theory, she could have requested one, but pride had gotten the best of her there.

By the time she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, she also felt the elbow in her back. She collapsed, attempting to spin so she could see who it was. But, they had been invisible. Shit, how had she not sensed someone two feet ahead of her.

A foot dug her face into the ground as another's knee tore into her back.

"Lookie here. Is that _Cobra_?"

She heard a wet slurping sound from in front of her. What he licking his lips at her? Ugh.

"I think so, and it's a _woman_."

Before she could snarl out a response, the world went black.

* * *

Sakura hadn't been captured…ever. Usually she was excellent at what she did and got in and got out, but today was just not her day. She twisted her wrists against their bonds, and frowned. This was annoying.

Equally as annoying was the chakra suppressant seal on the base of her neck. She played around with her chakra coils. It was barely moving or flowly. She could feel it stagnant in her veins. She wrinkled her nose, this was –

Her head. She had never really focused on her head chakra coils outside of training. Sure, Tsunade had trained her to familiar with every single one, but the only time she amassed chakra in her head was to create her seal.

She gnawed her lip as she tried to focus the chakra in her skull. It wasn't strong and it wasn't easy, but it was there.

Eyeing the room, she saw her things just outside the bars. How sloppy. She grinned and stood. She was a little shaky and sore. God, how long had she been out?

Leaning down like a bull, she barreled into the bars in front of her channeling all her chakra into her skull. She was through, and no guards to be seen. In theory, they were all with the lord or chasing her comrades.

She backed up toward her pouch and fiddled with it. She tried to focus, but god her head _hurt_. Finally, Sakura opened it and out a shuriken and broke apart her bonds. She felt the blood rushing back to her wrists.

Sakura counted through her supplies, everything was still there. Idiots. She ran her fingers over her temple and frowned. She had a gnarly concussion from barreling through steel.

But she didn't have time to heal that now. How long had it been? She walked down the hall and tried to picture the blueprints she'd memorized, but she couldn't. So, she kept going, but stopped as she heard voices.

There was one particularly haughty one. _Bingo._

She veered left toward the voices and suppressed her chakra as best she could, but she could feel the irregularities. And wow, the room was a little topsy turvy. She fingered around for a vial and figured this was going to be messy. There was no keeping this quiet is she wanted out alive.

Sakura peaked around the corner and saw the lord. There were two people with him, but he was there. She focused her chakra into her hands and feet, she needed just five minutes of focus. That's it.

She slithered across the ceiling. Three more steps – but apparently that was three steps too many for her body. Crashing to the ground she thanked god she landed on her knees and not her head.

A kunai flew past her ear, and shuriken over her head as she ducked. In a split, she had her tanto unsheathed and ran for the two.

God, balance was hard, but these shinobi were chunin at best. She side-kicked one as she swung at the other.

Eight clangs and four grunts later Sakura had a gnarly shoulder wound, and a feudal lord under her.

The man stared up at her, still haughty as ever.

"Water will always kill the fire in the end."

Sakura dug the kunai into his throat. Enough. She stumbled back, and leaned back against the wall for a moment.

Her head was pounding, the smell of blood was nauseating right now and the room was swaying. Sakura raised her glowing fingers to her temple.

She could barely focus long enough to satiate the nausea. How much concentration medical ninjutsu took was a curse.

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment and realized she wasn't in a basement anymore because they were small window down the hall.

With a soldier pill to help make her through the last bit of her mission, Sakura made a mad dash for the exit.

The road back to base should have taken a day's travel at most.

But, with her injuries, which she was just barely able to heal, it took her five.

* * *

The nice part about medical tents are they aren't as bright wide and deafening as normal hospitals. The not-so-part was that they _smelled_.

Sakura knew the smell the second she awoke from a small tugging in her arm.

"Ah – ow."

She blinked open her eyes and was faced with a stern gaze.

"You let yourself get an awful infection."

Damn, she hadn't even noticed. The last two days of her travel back, she could barely make out branches from leaves – let alone heal herself.

Shizune squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"But, I'm happy you made it home okay. As is everyone."

Sakura turned to her right and couldn't help but smile at the passed out Neji in the chair next to her.

"Everyone?"

Shizune shrugged. "Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, Lee, you know – "

"Wait! How did – "

Neji stirred next to her, and bolted up the second he saw her.

"You're up." His tone was flat, but the smile on his face betrayed his feigned apathy.

Sakura grinned. "I could say the same for you, sleepy head."

"Sakura, I'm keeping you one more night, then you're on leave for three days back in Konoha, got it?"

Shizune left the room with a pat on Sakura's hand.

"Was I really that bad?" Sakura leaned back into her pillow.

Neji shrugged.

"I mean we knew you'd make it, but you were missing for three days."

"How did everything go? I saw some of your fun before I went it in."

"It wasn't fun, it was a mission." Neji's smile suggested otherwise.

"Mmmm, liar." Sakura paused for a moment. "And…with the Akatsuki members?"

"Successful. I haven't gotten to read the mission scroll yet, but I heard it was difficult."

Sakura let out a long breath of relief.

"Can you stop almost dying? It's getting annoying."

Sakura chucked her water cup at him.

"Twice. It has happened _twice_. If you include this one. And I didn't even almost die this time – "

"Your stomach was green."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. That was pretty nasty.

"Also, you have a scroll from Tsunade." Neji gestured to the bedside table.

Sakura hummed lightly as she opened it. Her presence was requested in Konoha immediately after her discharge. Huh, strange.

* * *

A/N: God ya'll I'm so sorry for the delay. I know I don't technically have an update schedule, but I've never taken so long to do it.

My life has been a little rough lately, making writing difficult so I'm sorry if chapters take a little longer.

Reviews are always greatly appreciated, and thank you so much for the continued support!

Thanks for reading 3


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

* * *

Jiraiya had never been one of Sakura's favorite people. He was perverted, inefficient, annoying and above all a pain to work with. Though, at the end of the day he was effective at what he did. On more than one occasion, he had saved Konoha with the intelligence he gathered. He was an excellent fighting and an even better infiltrator. And when he wasn't being a pervert, he was a good person.

So, when Sakura was brought into a room with several other people and the elder toads, she was reasonably upset at his death. But, all sadness she could have was overshadowed by the fact Naruto had thrown harsh words at her mentor and stormed out. And Tsunade had looked worse for wear before he had yelled at her.

Sasuke and Shikamaru were dealing with Naruto, Sakura had never been good at upset Naruto anyway. It didn't happen often and damn he was stubborn. But Tsunade? She could deal with.

"Give me the fucking bottle."

Sakura side stepped in front of Tsunade.

"No. You're already drunk."

"I'll kill you."

Sakura sighed and tried to guide Tsunade back to the chair.

"Can you even focus your chakra to hit me?"

Tsunade wound up to smash something and Sakura snagged her elbow.

"Sorry." Tsunade buried her head in her heads. "I told him not to go alone."

"But I let him go alone. He said he'd be back. We don't even have his body, damn it."

Sakura poured out two small glasses.

"One more shot, that's it."

Sakura clinked hers with her mentor and leaned back in her seat.

"You really are my pupil."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the smile from her mentor.

"Yeah, yeah. It's the middle of the night. You should head to bed."

Tsunade proceeded to go on a minor tirade about how Sakura needed sleep and that she was perfectly fine. She did this all the time. Sakura brushed off the words and attempted not to laugh. At least she was ranting now, that was better than sulking.

* * *

Itachi's home was secluded and actually quite beautiful. Situation next to the river on the outskirts of Konoha, it was isolated and easy to conceal without alerting anyone. Sakura liked to think she knew every inch of Konoha and she definitely struggled with finding it.

"This is nice, all things considered."

Itachi hummed in response. Sakura drew her hand to his temple and sighed.

"How has this much damage occurred already?"

She narrowed her eyes and the man had the nerve to look surprised at her. Naturally, she flicked him in the ear.

"Did you just hit me?"

"I flicked out actually. You'll be useless to anyone blind. These coils are weak. I said no excessive use and you _clearly_ used it excessively."

"I was training."

"You were training excessively."

Itachi smiled and shook his head.

"I suppose you're right."

Sakura grinned back.

"Of course, I'm right. This is going to hurt." He flinched.

"Sorry."

Sakura continued repairing the damage caused to his eyes in silence. The silence was comfortable as first, but staring into someone's eyes as you stay dead silent grows to be a little uncomfortable.

Distracting herself, her mind wandered.

"Do you regret it?"

Itachi raised his brows.

"I mean, do you regret the decision you made?"

There was a pause and Sakura was pretty sure she had over-stepped her bounds. Well, she knew she overstepped, but maybe she'd actually offended him.

"No. But, looking back there were other things I could have done."

"Mind explaining me how everything occurred? I mean, I still probably have an hour or so left of healing. And the silence is a little weird."

Itachi nodded and for the next hour explained the political climate, the nine-tails attack, his and Shisui's plan, and everything surrounding the situation.

Sakura finished healing before he finished talking and had leaned back to soak in the sun.

"That's… everything thing that could have gone wrong, did."

"Indeed."

There was another brief silence. She should probably go, she had already flicked him and pushed the boundaries on tough subjects. She was pushing her luck today.

"How is Sasuke?"

And apparently it was his turn to hit a sore spot for her – and well, likely both of them.

"Better, now. He's… I mean, you can imagine, right? He hated you for so long. And just when you two were back to being brothers, he lost you. Does that end justify the means?"

"I hope so. Once the war is over I'll still be here."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You'll have lied to him again. I know I wouldn't trust you."

Itachi had taken to leaning back on the grass as well and responded with a shrug.

"I mourned the loss of my brother ages ago. I'll take anything right now, even if it's resentment."

And Sakura was pretty sure her heart broke right there. She had never considered how much he cared about his brother. She knew and could conceptualize the attachment, but right now she could feel it.

She stood up and bit her lip.

"I have to go, thank you."

Really, she just didn't want to cry in front of Itachi because this sucked. Everything sucked. How was it possible that a village which stood for loyalty and respect and comradery would put someone through this? And it wasn't just once or twice. This wasn't an isolated incident. This was _fucked up_.

What in god's name was she fighting for?

* * *

Sakura gave her name and identification to the gate-keeper as she entered the archives. She was sure there was information regarding the war in here somewhere. Tsunade had given her some of the highest clearance available when she was curing Itachi.

She had been trusted to not abuse that clearance. But, determining why and what you fought for wasn't necessarily a betrayal… right?

Sakura shook her head. Enough. She had to find the stupid scroll. She walked straight to the back in the corner where everything that was of high clearance was kept. She ran her hand over the barrier and it relented as she pulsed her chakra into it.

The area was small, only containing seventeen boxes. Two were dedicated to the Uchiha. Another three dedicated to the tailed beasts. That left twelve boxes to sift through.

As she opened them she discovered the rest were categorized by war. And there were two boxes on Orochimaru. Sakura noted that and decided she'd keep that for another time. Despite the fact Orochimaru was sick, sick man – he did have some disgustingly interesting research. And if the scrolls denoted anything, it was commissioned by Konoha.

She wrinkled her nose and the goosebumps on her back definitely indicated she was in the right state of mind. Something was awry. If the details about the wars were here, they were something they did not want anyone who wasn't completely trustworthy to see.

And finally, the second to last box available barely had any dust on it. Perfect. Sakura opened it and only six scrolls sat inside.

Forty-five minutes later she was pounding on Tsunade's door. However, seven knocks in she just opened it herself because damn it all the hell.

"What- " Tsunade's eyes reached the scroll and her lips pursed.

"You not supposed to be perusing that section."

Sakura slammed the scroll on her desk.

"Konoha is supposed to full of honor and respect and comradery. What the _fuck_?"

"Sit-"

"No! I knew him! You sent him there to _die_."

"Sakura! You need –"

"I don't need anything, damn it!" Sakura wound up punch something anything, preferable the Hokage, but was swarmed by seven ANBU and restrained.

"Let me go, cowards!"

Tsunade sighed and stood over Sakura.

"Are you done?"

Sakura bit her lip and thrashed for a moment, but she knew she wasn't going anywhere and getting knocked out would do nothing.

"We're talking."

"Release her and exit. I'll call you back in."

The cloaked figures were out of the room in an instant and Sakura was on her feet just as fast.

"I want to hear it from you – _why_?"

Tsunade leaned against her desk and let out a long breath.

"We had messed up. There was spy, and we didn't notice. I don't know how, but he gained access to many of the files you just looked at. By the time we found he was back in Earth country on his way to Stone. We had to destroy all knowledge of that. I was advised to organize the meeting between Stone and one of our diplomats –"

"Kaii, his name."

" – Kaii. Don't interrupt. Do you want to know or not?"

Sakura suddenly felt twelve again, being tutted by Tsunade. She proceeded to act as such, crossed her arms and only pouting a little. But, she nodded nonetheless.

"I didn't know until he had left – what the advisors had planned. But they had already had it in motion behind my back. And while I didn't agree, it would work. So, a team was sent in to make it look the Stone had attacked us. It was a literal suicide mission. It would look like Stone attacked us. We hadn't expected it to spark a war necessarily, but we knew it could happen. But everyone that knew about the classified information died that day, so the mission was successful."

Sakura left without a word. Anything she had to say would or do would get her jailed for assault of the Hokage. Not that she gave a shit about the village or any of it's damn values right now. It's not like anyone else cared either.

Four shinobi had died that day in order to protect some god awful other corrupt secrets and one of them didn't even know it was coming. Sakura fought back tears.

Kaii had been her partner on several occasions. He was nice, sweet guy. Of all the ways to go, betrayed by his own village was not fair. It wasn't fair to anyone, but especially not someone like that.

She kicked a rock as she headed to the training ground.

* * *

Sasuke threw a rock across the field as he sat next to Sakura.

"They didn't spare you any details, huh."

"Well, I read the scroll. She didn't have a choice."

Sakura's rock bumped into his. Sasuke had already been at the training ground and he knew something was up the second she showed up and threw boulder across the field. They'd downsized to stones at least.

"True. I only got to see the Uchiha scroll."

"You don't want to see both, it makes it worse."

They were silent again. Sakura leaned her knee against his and he didn't recoil from the touch. It was about as comforting as they got with each other.

"This is stupid." Sakura sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "We're supposed to be Konoha. The will of fire! Comrades are our priority, rah rah! What the hell is all this shit?"

"Why do you think I left?" And Sasuke had the nerve to say it.

She flicked him in the ear, getting a weird sense of déjà vu while doing it.

"Shut up! It's still not funny."

"What's not funny?"

Sakura and Sasuke turned to see Naruto plodding onto the field. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his teasing expression left something to be desired, but holy shit, he was out of his house. She hadn't seen him since when he stormed out of the office and apparently, he had rejected any attempt at conversation from Sasuke.

It was rough.

But, knowing better, she didn't touch on it. Naruto wasn't one to not say something if he wanted to say it.

"Sasuke is trying to be funny about him leaving the village."

Naruto plopped down on the other side of Sasuke.

"Yeah, I had to run after your ass twice. And you tried to kill me!"

"…I'm still sorry about that."

Naruto elbowed him lightly.

"Yeah, sorry that I kicked your ass."

The boys proceeded to bicker for several minutes and Sakura hugged her knees.

This was nice.

Naruto and Sasuke were back to bickering and both always seemed to find joy in that. Sakura sighed and put herself between them pushing them apart.

"Seriously? Stop it, you two. We're adults now." She plopped between them, throwing her arms around their shoulders.

"Oh, you're cuddling with me now, Sakura?"

Before Sakura could even respond, Sasuke was interrupting.

"Her arm is around both of us, idiot."

She lightly thumped both of their heads.

"Shut up, and just enjoy it."

Squad Seven was dealt a shitty hand in life. Sasuke had his clan killed, his brother issues ran deep, and he was cursed with being a perpetual jerk. Naruto was forced to carry a demon, isolated, was an orphan and had just lost his godfather. Sakura was officially part of the orphan club now too, and consistently dug herself a deeper hole of issues everyday.

But the sun was shining, they were alive and they had each other. They'd figure it out eventually.

* * *

A/N: I may have disappeared for a week, but I got this chapter out quite quickly at least? aha. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it contained a lot of emotions that were fun to play with.

I know a lot of you are not super into Team Seven, but hopefully _Squad Seven_ is a little better ;)

Thank you for reading and all of the continue support! 3


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

* * *

Sakura sheathed her sword and flopped onto the ground.

"Christ, Tenten. You're going to kill me."

Tenten chuckled and sat down next to her.

"Well, you're not completely awful with a sword anymore – so I might not."

Sakura rolled her eyes. She wasn't that bad.

"You're just really good at it."

"I know," she chirped back.

They leaned back and Sakura pulled out some fruit she had for lunch, offering to Tenten. Neji and Lee were sparring. And Lee was basically handing it to Neji.

"He just keeps getting better, it's amazing."

"Hm..yeah. I mean, Lee has always been better at taijutsu. He just doesn't let Neji hit him anymore."

Sakura popped a strawberry in her mouth and appreciated the spar. There was a big battle coming. Three of the Akatsuki were dead and one was with Konoha, but that still left six of them.

The puppeteer and explosive specialist were going to be a force to be reckoned with, especially with one being from Sand. One of them seemed to be plant, which was odd, but they knew nothing about what he was capable of and neither did Itachi.

The partner of the leader, Konan, was reasonably going to be angry with Konoha. At least Jiraiya had taken Pain down with him. There was Itachi's old teammate, Kisame. Itachi knew he could take him, but made it clear Kisame was a force of nature.

Then there was the one with the orange mask. Itachi claimed he was Madara, but something about it seemed off. Madara was dead. Unless he was one of the edo tensei, but he seemed too real for that. He could apparently slip through anything which made fighting him exceedingly difficult. According to Itachi, it was a sharingan ability.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Neji walking over and sitting down. Lee practically danced over, completing their circle.

"Neji, eat a strawberry you're pouting." Tenten waggled one in front of Neji's face and he promptly swatted it.

"I'm not _pouting_."

"Yeah, sure. You're just angry at the strawberry," Sakura teased.

"I'm not angry at-"

"Neji! It's okay you lost! You probably would have won if I didn't try my new combination on you!"

"How do you even think of that stuff? It's so random."

"The power of-"

"-youth," Tenten and Sakura finished, only chuckling a little.

"Yeah! Youth! I'd be happy to go again!"

"I'm done sparring for today."

Lee eyed both Tenten and Sakura eagerly and both shook their head. Lee really was a lovely teammate and partner. He was fair and encouraging. He'd be a killer sensei one day. But he was also exhausting. Almost as exhausting as –

"It's fine. Gai-sensei will be by soon. We will spar and maybe today I'll-"

Sakura was suddenly on her feet. She was not dealing with Gai today. She thought he was out on a mission.

"I – uh – I have to go… to the hospital. Yup, well I mean the tents. Sorry!"

"I'll join you Sakura, my arm is feeling quite strange. Tenten, you don't mind staying and keeping Lee company, do you?"

Tenten's glare showed she absolutely-yes-did-mind, but she crossed her arms because who could be an outright jerk to Lee?

"Yeah, sure."

Sakura had never sped-walked so fast off a training ground.

"You left Tenten, you jerk!"

"You left first."

They may have bantered all the way back to their tents. By the end of it, Neji actually _did_ need his arm checked out.

* * *

Every Jonin and ANBU member was seated together in a room. It was… scary. Sakura wore her mask, next to Naruto and Sasuke. Most of the Konoha twelve were here save for Ino, Hinata and Choji. Ino was probably still working on the spies from the other side while Hinata and Choji were probably working as diplomats.

Kakashi, Shikaku, and Gai stood at the front. Most others leaders were back in Konoha or out on long-term missions.

"So, there is likely to be an attack in several days' time. We have seen movement for a large-scale attack from our informants. We will be splitting everyone up into groups accordingly. There will be a long-range company, sensor company, mid-range, close-range, and special forces. As expected, most of the special forces will be ANBU.

Captains – see to it your units and squads are in top shape. Same, to you jonin. You will be leading inside of the companies. We will be integrating Sand, Sound, Snow, and River ninja into our camp and ranks within the next week. Welcome them."

Shikaku stepped back and everyone began milling around again.

"Aha, Shikamaru is gonna have his girl back," Kiba – when had he gotten promoted? – teased.

"She's not my girl."

"I'll make sure to tell her that next time I see her. Maybe I'll get myself – what the fuck!"

A shuriken whizzed past Kiba's head and into the wall.

"Finish that sentence, Kiba. I dare you," Tenten hissed.

Sakura rolled her eyes and tapped Sasuke's foot with hers.

"Does that mean Suigetsu and Jugo are coming?"

"Who's that?" Naruto chimed in, crouching by both of them.

"Sasuke's friends."

"You have friends?"

"Shut up, idiot. Of course, I have friends."

Sakura knew she wasn't getting an answer as they erupted into a bicker. She had known that it was a strong possibility they were having a big battle. Ino had suggested as much in her letters, but to actually go to one… she was both terrified and excited.

Though her thoughts were interrupted as she realized she had guard duty ten minutes ago. She scampered up and started heading out.

"Neji! Neji!"

He raised a brow at her.

"Bring me lunch. Southeast guard stand!" He rolled his eyes.

"Please!"

He nodded and she responded by blowing him a kiss, that he aggressively swatted down. Hopefully, he'd bring her the chili-chicken that was served in the hall today. It actually was pretty good and she was starving.

* * *

"How are you not nervous? We don't even know what to expect! I mean, yeah, we have some information but just, what if they do some wild stuff? I mean we sent a tornado of bunnies and dogs after them. If I were them I would – "

"I'm still confused as to how you made it this far."

Sakura went to hit the back of his head, but Neji ducked.

"I went through the same ANBU exam as you thank you very much! And who's a captain now?"

Neji rolled his eyes.

"Only because you got the best missions."

"Equal opportunity, Neji. You could have grabbed any one of those missions."

"Yeah, sure. I almost forgot about that exam. That was… interesting."

"I think you mean awful."

ANBU applicants were sworn to secrecy about the nature of their exam to anyone outside of ANBU. Not that swearing secrecy to anything ever worked, so the exam changed yearly. Sakura wasn't sure who was in charge the year she and Neji went through, but they were a sadist.

 _Sakura woke up spitting sand and with a killer case of dry mouth. Dammit, where whad they – oh – sand. There were only a few places with sand and the most common was in Wind Country. At least they left her in friendly territory._

 _She sat up and propped her elbows on her knees as she opened the scroll. Hyuga Koyo. Brown hair, Light eyes, red shoes, last seen in Rivers. Sakura groaned. Was this a joke? She had to hunt an Hyuga without them knowing she was coming – awesome. At least it wasn't Neji. That would have been awkward._

 _Sakura stood up and brushed the sand off of herself and looked around. Well, she needed water. She had some sealed away but not enough for a hike through the desert. And she had to head East. The sun was setting it looked like, which meant the opposite way was East. Perfect._

 _It only took what Sakura figured was nearly ten miles of travel to realize they had definitely dropped her in the middle of the damn desert. Her face was burnt, she was definitely dehydrated, and her vision was still a little blurry. Whether the blurriness was a side-effect from the sedative or the outrageous amount of sand in her eyes was still up for discussion._

 _And after ten miles of travel, she realized she needed to eat and she didn't necessarily want to waste her food pills yet. It only took thirty-five minutes to hunt a poor rabbit. Sakura frowned as she looked around. No sticks to make a fire with – right._

 _With a hand sign, the rabbit was cooked and charred, but certainly far from delicious._

 _Two days and the rest of her water reserves later, Sakura finally was out of the desert. There was a town at the edge - thank the lord. She found her way to a local shop. The host perked a brow._

 _"One." Her voice was raspy. She hadn't spoken in days. She suspected she looked like hell and noting her reflections in one of the mirrors only confirmed her suspicions. She was sun burnt, and her hair was disgusting._

 _The waitress walked over and she ordered a water and pork bun._

 _"Have any other foreigners come by in the last few days?"_

 _"A few."_

 _"Did any have white eyes?"_

 _"No."_

 _Useless. However, this pork bun was to die for. Better than burnt snake and rabbit. Sakura shook her head and sipped the water. Rivers was probably about fifty miles from here. That wasn't awful._

 _Sakura took the map from her scroll. There were seven towns on the way to Rivers. Chances are at least on saw him right?_

 _Wrong. Not a single dang soul in the entire seven damn towns saw him. Sakura snarled as she crossed the border._

 _Didn't he have her? I mean that wasn't one of the rules, but chances are they would have each other if it was half elimination. Unless… no that would be too easy._

 _But of all places for him to be, Rivers wasn't the worst. She knew a person or two there._

 _The Village Hidden in the Valley's leader was definitely a useful ally to have. Thank god for her diplomat connections. He hadn't seen anything personally, but within three hours, there had been several sightings of the Hyuga with red shoes close to one of the Konoha border towns._

 _Perfect._

 _It was strange he would decide to wear red shoes. They were easily identifiable. She had her hair, but she couldn't control that. He could control his shoes. Sakura walked by one of the mirrors in the conference room and something unusual caught her eye._

 _Her right upper arm had a marking on it. That hadn't been there before she'd be knocked out. She bit her lip. And before they had knocked out the entire room with the gas, no one had been wearing red shoes._

 _They planted things on them. Sakura dashed into the bathroom and ran her fingers over the tattoo. It wasn't a tattoo, but it was painted onto her skin with something with darn good staying power._

 _Thirty-five minutes of furious rubbing later it was gone. Some of the damage had been done, but hopefully her attacker wouldn't find anyone who could remember the symbol._

 _Traveling toward fire country was the exact opposite of Sand. It wasn't dry anymore, but it was so humid that Sakura was considering just drinking the air. However, due to the moisture in the air it was harder to sense chakra._

 _But, Sakura would know that chakra anywhere._

 _"Neji – so help me god if you're the one chasing me I will end you."_

 _There was the smallest rustle in fifty feet west. She chucked a kunai in that direction._

 _"So help me god if you're the one hunting me."_

 _"I'm not and no need to waste a perfectly good kunai."_

 _The breath on her neck as enough to make her nearly jump out of her skin. He had been… how was he…_

 _"What the hell! Where did you come from?"_

 _Neji shrugged, fingering the kunai between his fingers. He tossed his mission scroll to her._

 _"Behind you, obviously."_

 _Sakura rolled her eyes. No, the target wasn't her. For a moment, Sakura ran through the guidelines of the exam. There were only do's, no don'ts. That meant that she could, in theory, partner with Neji. Yes, she worked better alone, but it had been nearly a week and nothing. She needed a break._

 _"I'm looking for one of your cousins. Is your target toward fire country?"_

 _His target was heading toward fire country. Having company was lovely and having someone to watch your back while you slept was even better._

 _They encountered Neji's target first. He was an Inuzuka, so he had sniffed them out sooner rather than later. But, Neji had some gnarly smelling smoke bombs. Sakura hadn't even considered buying or bringing scent bombs, but it was a genius thing to have._

 _The boy was no match for Neji. Sakura had spit a poison dart into the dog's leg and that wounded the prospects of the Inuzuka boy winning heavily. When Neji knocked him out and retrieved the scroll they were supposed to be protecting, Sakura healed his wounds._

 _"You're too nice."_

 _"He's an ally, Neji. You already won."_

 _Neji decided to stay with Sakura while she hunted her target. It took another four days to come upon the Hyuga, who was booking it back to Konoha. He had already secured his target. They had found one of the other applicants sulking back to Konoha. Turns out, she was Kyo's target and had already been defeated. But that meant he was a straight shot and all they had to do was hunt him. And they were good at hunting._

 _Sakura took the easy way out of knocking him out. Neji found his camp and what an idiot because he left it open. There were traps – sure. But not that great of ones. Sakura slipped a sedative into his water and slinked back._

 _"Unlike you," Neji noted as Sakura crouched next to him._

 _"I want to pass his exam. I can't afford a head on battle with someone who can get rid of my chakra. We both know how well I fight against you."_

 _Sakura passed, or when she arrived she hoped she did. Just because everything was retrieved, didn't mean you were guaranteed a spot. But she had made it to this stage, and that's what matter._

"I think we're the only pair that made an alliance."

"Well, no one else in the group were close enough. I never asked, did you find me on purpose?"

Neji shrugged, shifting a little.

"I mean, you were nearby. And headed in a similar direction."

Sakura pushed into Neji.

"You can say yes, we're friends."

The second the word left her mouth, she realized she'd never referred to him as her friend to him before. He was always a comrade or partner. Sure, she knew they were friends. Simple comrades didn't bring you lunch while you were on duty. Friends did.

Neji seemed to pick up on her referring him to a friend as well, and glanced away.

"I guess we are, huh?"

"It's not a bad thing."

Neji gave a gentle smile.

"No. No it's not."

* * *

A/N: The flashback was a big debate for me so let me know how you liked it! I try not to do them often, and considered making it a separate one shot but i really liked the scene soooo yeah.

Things are going to start hitting the fan again shortly, so I hope ya'll enjoyed some calm.

Thank you for reading, reviews are always greatly appreciated! :)

Also - OMG over 200 followers? Thank you! I hope you're enjoying!


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

* * *

Within the next week the camp grew stranger. It was determined, as a collective, the snow shinobi was unfriendly, the rivers shinobi wouldn't shut up, the sand shinobi were rude, and the sound shinobi were downright _weird_.

Having traveled to all the nations and ensured several of their treaties, Sakura somehow was on the welcoming committee for most of them. And the collective judgement wasn't completely wrong.

Sakura whirred around and put a kunai to Suigetsu's throat. He had decided his whispering skills were excellent and had announced to Jugo just how delightful Sakura's ass was.

"If you so much as think about touching it, I will kill you."

And the judgement of Sound shinobi being weird was only solidified – or well liquefied – by the fact he collapsed into a puddle.

"Oh my god!"

The red head on the other side of him, Karin or something like that, rolled her eyes.

"He's the worst. Don't mind him. You know if Sasuke around?"

"She's in love with Sasuke you know?"

Sakura could feel his damp breath on her neck. She spun with a fist, not really caring what Kakashi who say about in-fighting.

How was it Shikamaru got to hang out with his girlfriend and Sakura got stuck with someone in love with Sasuke, a creepy water boy, and the silent giant?

She had never been so excited to see Shino up ahead.

"Shino! Hey!"

"Sakura, Kakashi is looking for you. I'll take over for you."

Sakura nodded aggressively and practically flew to Kakashi's tent.

* * *

This might have been worse than dealing the sound shinobi.

With the state of the war everyone was getting promoted. Sure, most of the Konoha 12 were at jonin or ANBU level, but certainly not all of them should be there. But during a war they need bodies and people who are semi-capable. Or at least that's what they're being told.

Kakashi disagreed heavily with that philosophy, but alas, he's also merely a pawn in this godawful war chess game. Hence, Sakura was now stuck with three chunin to train and now they were going to be her squad.

What's the point of making her captain of Squad Seven if they're never going to work together? Honestly.

But whatever, Naruto and Sasuke didn't get shafted with non-chunin to train, but they're also tasked with creating weapon sealing scrolls since their sealing abilities are better than average. That also definitely sucks.

Sakura perched herself in a tree next to Lee.

"Kakashi stuck you with a team too?"

"Oh yes! Well Gai-sensei did, but I asked for one."

Sakura grinned and rolled her eyes. Of course he did.

"You know how it feels to be the underdog too. I think that's why they picked us."

She hadn't thought about that. Lee, Sakura, and a few others were given these groups. And they were all worthy jonin or ANBU, but now that she thought about it, they all had started on a pretty crap playing field.

"Konohamaru, I did not say you could stop doing pushups! Keep going!"

Somehow Sakura had gotten stuck with third's grandson and his two henchmen. They regularly followed Naruto around and wreaked havoc. She bit her lip as she leaned against the tree. They were only eleven. They were eleven and going to be in the middle of a giant battle in probably days.

And they weren't ready. They definitely weren't ready to be chunin. Sure, they had some skill, but their ninjutsu was weak, ill timed, or sloppy. Their taijutsu was pretty much just a flurry of kicks and punches with no rhyme or reason. And genjutsu? Forget about it. They could barely release one, let alone make a properly layered one.

"They're way to young."

Lee's face dropped as he looked to his left at his group of bumbling kids. His were doing target practice and while it was fine, they weren't nailing anyone war-hardened anytime soon.

"We're all way to young."

He was right. They weren't even twenty. They couldn't legally drink a beer, but both of their kill counts were high. They were expected to kill without question and obey orders without a passing thought. And no one knew the reason for the war.

No one knew they were fighting for nothing at this point. No greater good, not to save the world. At this point, they were fighting because they had picked a bone with another country and needed to stay alive. It was all self-imposed.

"But, peace time is coming soon. It'll be better then."

Lee's eternal optimism was a delight. It kept her from circling with cynical drain too aggressively. Sakura had always thought people like Lord Third embodied the will of fire. But, she was wrong. Lord Third had been a coward who couldn't allow the fire to extend to an entire clan of their village. Someone like Lee would have.

Someone like Lee would have probably not allowed the Uchiha to be killed, and not allowed this stupid police action turned war to start.

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair attempting to end the thoughts. Someone like Lee wasn't there and it did happen and there's no point in wishing now.

"Enough guys. Uh – good work today."

Sakura grinned and vanished in a pop before any of them could figure out a witty comment to throw at her.

* * *

Part of Sakura always thought a giant battle like this would feel profound, or at least give a feeling like she was a in movie, or just make her feel like a general badass.

But instead, she was completely sure this sucked. She was sore, sweating, and goddammit where was Udon? Moegi was actually doing a pretty good job against the boy who had pounced on her. Konohamaru was actually pretty creative, sorta like Naruto, he was lucky and got it done.

Udon, where was Udon? Sakura spun around and found him, with kunai in his thigh and collapsed on the ground. There was a woman over him and Sakura's legs could not move fast enough.

Sakura flung a shuriken to knock the kunai away from his neck. She wound up and punched into the woman's skull. She didn't bother to figure out whether or not the woman was alive, dead, or obliterated. She scooped up Udon and headed further back.

"Kiba! Keep an eye on the kids!"

Kiba grunted in response. He was a perverted idiot sometimes, but Sakura knew he'd die before he let a kid get killed by the stone and mist nin.

The lightening shinobi and Akatsuki have seemed to attack from the north whereas everyone else came through the water from the east. Fighting in the sand of the beach. The worst possible terrain for Sakura. It made running and moving difficult and lord knows you can't shatter sand. This was a pain.

Sakura ducked behind a dune and ripped the kunai out, hovering her hands over his gushing wound.

"Am I gonna die?"

Udon always sniffled, but this time he was definitely sobbing and his nose was really running. Sakura pushed a bit of gauze at him.

"Not if I can help it. Wipe your nose. I'm gonna rip it out in three, two – " Sakura ripped it out on two and his grunt in pain was pretty impressive considering how dull the kunai was.

No poison at least, thank god.

"I – I'm sorry I'm not a good shinobi. I'll be better, I will – "

In that moment, Sakura threw away all of her shinobi ways. Right now she was medic and mentor. She wrapped him a hug and pet his hair.

"Sh.. it's okay. You did good. You did good."

"No, no I didn't. Yuki died." Sakura hadn't noticed what happened, but that's why Udon had run off.

Too young, he was too young to see a friend die. Sakura rubbed his back.

"You did what you could. Here, let me see your wound again."

He wasn't going to be able to run and walking was going to be rocky, but barring any nasty infections – he was going to live.

Any thoughts of whisking Udon back to a safer part of the field was gone when there was an aggressive flare of chakra from the north. Something was wrong – really wrong.

"Udon, I need you to stay here unless it gets too dangerous. I'll get you when it's safer."

Sakura thrust a shuriken into his hand.

"This is poisoned. It'll stop someone in less than seven seconds if they come near you – aim sharp."

A determined nod from him was reassuring enough that Sakura didn't feel so bad leaving him. As much as she wanted to stay with him… that chakra was-something was very wrong.

* * *

If Sakura thought the east was a mess, the north was hell. Bombs were dropping from the sky and why were people and clay creatures flying? No wonder they had sent all the rookies to the east.

There was little coordination - what were Inoichi and Shikaku doing? Everyone had some idea of what to do, but the enemies were creative and using some of the weirdest abilities Sakura had ever seen. The first person she saw was Tenten essentially sniping people with her bow.

She was killing it, but in her focus Sakura noticed two men slip away. They didn't go left, right, or up. And from Kakashi's training Sakura knew the fourth option all too well.

Her fist smashed into the ground.

Tenten grinned in her direction.

"Look who decided to show up!"

Sakura barked a laugh.

"Yeah, to save you!"

She scanned the area for her squad. Sasuke was easy to spot – shrouded in purple and battling a man with puppets. And Naruto was – oh shit.

He was covered in red. His essence was changing and Sakura could see why. Hinata lay unconscious on the ground near him and Naruto was slashing at a woman with blue hair. Sakura fingered for the seals. Damn it and he was far.

She booked it across the field, fixed on him. A man stopped in her way however, blue and grinning at her. Sakura drew her tanto.

"Cobra… I'm going to enjoy this."

Her sword was no match for his. Five swings in and hers cracked. She bounded back and huffed. She glanced over to Naruto. Six tails – six!

In the split second she looked away, she felt his foot collide with her skull. She flew several feet away and a flurry of green stood in front of her.

"Lee!"

Sakura held her hand up to her head. Another damn concussion. She was going to get brain damage one of these days. She shook her head, repeating the mantra in her head: _Save as many allies as possible, no matter the cost._

Save allies – screw the cost. Save allies… screw the cost.

A dangerous thought flashed through her mind. The nine tails could do a lot of damage. If she let it keep going… they would win this. There's no way they could lose with nine tails on their side. But then, Naruto would. Sakura swallowed.

Screw the cost. Screw the cost. Seven Tails.

Sakura glanced around and went to keep walking toward Naruto. He was demolishing the enemies. Another jonin glanced at her, grinning.

"He's going to save us and kill them all. Look at the monster go."

Sakura wanted to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. To her right she could see Lee opening the gates, he was pushing himself. He could use the help. Sasuke was illuminated with purple armor attacked a man with clay creatures. If Naruto could just hold on a little longer and keep the seven tails, they could have both.

They could win this. Maybe they could win this and Naruto could live.

Sakura was a hundred yards from Naruto. The chakra was earth-shattering, literally. The ground was cracking and enemies were burning in his path as he launched himself at the blue haired girl.

Her head spun and spun and spun. Lee, Sasuke, Naruto. Shit – Shikamaru, Ino and Choji are toe to toe the masked main. How the hell did _they_ end up against _him_. Kakashi was with them and he already looked worse for wear.

They were losing. Without the nine-tails powerhouse they were going to lose, but _Naruto_.

Sakura could see him inside the chakra, his skin was red and burning. Beyond that she knew the real Naruto was there.

The Naruto that would swear to become the Hokage. The Naruto that would never give up no matter what. The Naruto that always managed to put everyone before himself despite no one ever giving him anything. The Naruto that would never, ever give up on a friend.

Her legs moved before her brain would finish. God, the chakra was hot. It was burning. She felt a person or two try to stop her. They knew what she was doing. She was getting rid of the weapon of mass destruction. She was ending their only chance of winning.

The ones who would be on her side were too busy fighting for their lives against enemies who are absolutely insane.

For a brief moment, Sakura prayed they would still be okay. Her friends could do it, and she could still have Naruto.

Sakura threw her arms around Naruto and slammed the seals into him. She didn't let go because she saw his red eyes flash blue. And the blue was filled with horror and desperation. Naruto needed a friend. Screw the burning against her skin, screw her stupid motto – Naruto was going to live damn it.

* * *

A/N: I know this chapter is shorter, but going any further would really ruin some things. I hope you guys liked it, because I really enjoyed writing this chapter.

Thank you for reading, your reviews are greatly appreciated!


	21. Chapter Twenty

A/N: Fair warning - this is a sad chapter. There is a major character death...so yeah.

* * *

Chapter Twenty

* * *

Sakura remembered little of the battle after she embraced Naruto. There were echoes of screaming and other booms, but the scorching of her skin and her desperate need to save Naruto was all she could remember.

And it was all she dreamed of while unconscious.

So, the silence of the hospital room was shock to her system when she blinked awake. She glanced around as she became more aware. Her stomach sank. She'd grown… used to someone being there when she awoke. She had never woken up alone in a hospital room.

Neji had usually been there. And he wasn't there Naruto, Lee, or Tenten was. Hell, Sasuke had been there a time or two. Ino or Shizune were usually one of her nurses because despite the fact she waved it off, she got some special treatment – they weren't letting one of the best medics kick the bucket.

An unfamiliar nurse walked in and Sakura nodded pleasantly. She received a hardened line on the woman's lips.

"How long have I been out?" Sakura's voice cracked

"About a month."

Sakura nodded. A month was a long time. Reasonably long enough that people who only check on her occasionally or be sent out on other missions.

The nurse scanned her over and eventually shoved a newspaper toward her. The nurse left without another worse. Sakura reached for her water and sipped it.

Her body was thoroughly bandaged and from the way her skin was stiff, she suspected burns.

The newspaper – well more so newsletter – was for shinobi. It had been started during the war to keep everyone in the loop on major events and battles. Apparently, the large battle was being called the Battle of Eastern Beach. Battle names were never very creative.

She read through it and the more she did, the more she wanted to throw it. The commentary was clearly by some idiot and it was clearly biased. The last page though always listed recent casualties.

This time she actually threw the newsletter and went to stand up, but god her body was betraying her. And the fact her mentor now stood in the doorway caused her to sink back into the bed.

"That newsletter is bullshit."

Tsunade bent down to pick it up and flopped it back on the table. She hadn't smiled, and didn't look angry. With her stoic, steady expression she looked dangerous.

"I need your report, Sakura."

Sakura went to protest – she had just woken up for god sakes, but the serious tone and face made her reconsider.

Tsunade didn't seem surprised by any of it.

"Is.. is this newsletter-" Sakura stopped as her voice cracked. She was not crying right now.

"Other than the obnoxious tone it's written in – yes."

Tsunade sighed and closed the door.

"It's not your fault."

"Clearly it is."

"You followed orders."

"How many of these people died before I sealed Naruto?"

Tsunade rubbed her temples.

"That's beside – "

"How many!"

"Less than half, but you made the right choice."

Sakura clenched her fists and bit her lip, the tears were flowing now, but damn it to hell. It didn't matter anymore.

"You only have to spend the night. Then you should be free to go."

Sakura usually itched to be released from the hospital, but today she almost wished her could stay. She figured she'd missed the memorials, having been unconscious for a month, so she headed to the cemetery.

She stopped at the Yamanaka flower shop and grimaced at the clang. Ino turned to greet her and her face immediately dropped. Sakura turned away and picked up two bouquets, considered for a moment – then picked up a third and fourth.

Ino had never been good at hiding distain. She spat out the amount owed and Sakura realized it was the first time she paid for flowers in years. She practically ran out of the shop – this sucked.

The weight of the air seemed to be increasing and the damn humidity wasn't helping. Sakura padded to the first head stone.

It was beautifully decorated. But, of course it was, Ino would never let her father's love of flowers be left unnoticed. Sakura added her own.

Inoichi had died from several bombs to the headquarters. Tsunade had tried to keep him alive, but she was too late. He had been killed on impact. Sakura frowned and knelt down, and was tempted to pray.

She wasn't religious. What god would put people through a life like this and still expect undying love and devotion? What god would do this at all? A crappy one – if there was one. Sakura had stopped believing in a god when he mom died.

Ino was an orphan now too. Sakura really wished reaching out was an option, but the way Ino had looked at her. The blame on her face. Sakura was the last person Ino wanted comfort from.

Sakura went to head to the next grave, but people were already there – of course. She detoured to the third one she wanted to visit. No one was there right now.

Ino could at least find some understanding from Shikamaru hopefully. Sakura had never been close with Shikaku, but he was brilliant. He had died with Inoichi. Part of her hoped Shikamaru didn't blame her, but who knew with him? He had gone a little off the deep end with Asuma. Lord knows what would happen with Shikaku.

She placed the flowers down and sighed. What do you say to someone you barely knew? Thanks for being one of Konoha's greatest assets? Sorry I chose to save Naruto, so you died? Sakura stood up, none of that worked. So, she said nothing.

Neji and Tenten were leaving the cemetery finally. She'd have something to say to Lee.

She caught the glance of both Neji and Tenten, they turned away and kept walking. Sakura wasn't sure her heart could sink any lower, but if it could – it definitely did.

So, they did blame her. Rightfully so, she supposed.

She knelt by Lee's stone and placed the flowers down. His grave was stunning and well taken care of. But, of course it was, Lee was welcoming and kind and generous. It was hard not to love him even through all his obnoxious tendencies.

Sakura remembered her last conversation with him. He would have been a good sensei. Hell, that's what he would have done when the war ended. At least he got a small chance with the three chunin.

Lee had opened up all the gates. When the hell had he learned that? And why the hell did anyone teach it to him? It wasn't safe. It was a stupid stupid forbidden technique.

 _And he wouldn't have had to use it if the fox was set free_.

She wished her had the will to stop her inner self from chiding her, but she really didn't. Not today. Not while visiting graves.

Sakura ran her finger over the grave, brushing away a few leaves that had blown in. She swore right then the peace time that talked about would come soon. Lee wouldn't have died in vain, peace was going to come.

Sakura stood up and keep on her walk. She crossed her arms over her chest and suppressed a shiver. It was one of those days where it wasn't technically cold, but it was so humid and so cloudy that it was bone-chilling.

She sat in front of the memorial stone and drew her knees to her chest. This felt better. It was easier than the graves. She could see all of them at once here, even her father. For a moment, she pondered what he father thought of her now. She was far cry from the girl who had to be led by Ino to friends. Hell, she was a far cry from the genin she started off as and that was only four years ago.

The next week was a cycle. No one had spoken to her yet, not really anyway. And she hadn't tried very hard to talk to them. Naruto was missing, she had over-heard something about training. She would run, visit the stone, head to the bar and then stagger home.

Sometimes, when she was feeling really crazy, she'd hop up to a watch tower and observe the enemy. They were only a hundred miles away from Konoha now. Parts of their camp were evident. Smoke could be seen. But, there weren't any ambushes yet.

Sakura hopped down from the tower, ignoring an aggressive gaze from someone on duty. She continued her run through the forest. At least when she ran, she sweat out the toxins and her hangover would be gone by the end of it.

The first few runs, she'd seen Itachi with Sasuke. That was nice. At least they got along. Sasuke avoided their training ground, code for 'fuck you' in Sasuke language. Sakura found some solace in the fact that even if he hated her, at least he had his brother back.

It was funny. She spent years hating Sasuke and dreading his return and even despised for the short time of him being here. But now, she kinda missed him. He'd been helpful when her father died. And she figured he'd be a nice person to have around now. Too bad she betrayed him.

Too bad she basically betrayed everyone.

There was a twack to the back of Sakura's head as she sat at the bar.

"You're underage."

Sakura barely moved, but she did roll her eyes.

"You give me it all the time."

Tsunade slipped into the seat next to her, took the glass from in front of her and downed it.

"I'm cutting you off."

Sakura frowned and stood up to go.

"Sulking doesn't suit you."

Sakura stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I expected better of my student."

Sakura's fist clenched.

"Well apparently, I didn't meet your expectations, join the club."

Tsunade put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around.

"Stop throwing yourself a pity party!"

People were staring now. They glared back and forth at each other. The room had gone silent and tension in the room was palatable. Konoha would not survive a fist fight between the two women.

"Fuck you. One of my best friends and father just died. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you! Your people die and you abandon the village! I mourn like a normal person and I'm having a pity party – fuck you!"

Sakura's chest was heaving and her tears were falling. But, she didn't care. She didn't give a single shit because it wasn't about everyone else's expectations. She knew she failed them. She'd failed her own expectations. She already knew. The entire village knew she was a disaster, she was the pathetic weak Haruno Sakura. So who cared if she screamed and cried in the middle of a bar?

Tsunade slapped her.

And the sound echoed throughout the bar. Other than the gentle sobs from Sakura, and Tsunade's heavy breathing, there was silence.

"Enough. If you speak to me like that again I will have your prosecuted."

Tsunade stalked out and Sakura held a hand to her cheek.

Just when she didn't think her life could, it had gotten worse.

Sakura ran hard that night. The way the air pushed through her lungs and eventually started to burn was great. She refused to use chakra. That would be cheating. And the way her legs burned were one of the few things that made her feel alive these days.

"Sakura."

She turned around and threw a fist only to have it caught. Finally, registering who it was, she relaxed.

"What are you doing? I nearly knocked you out," Sakura huffed out, catching her breath.

"I heard."

Sakura frowned.

"Yeah. So did everyone. You were probably there." She went to turn and walk away. She didn't need another damn lecture.

"Come, sit down."

"I'm really trying to – " She stopped at the way he raised his brows. He knew she was full of it. She spared him a small smile.

"That'd be nice."

She hadn't had a pleasant conversation with anyone is ages. Everyone was either already angry, out on guard duty, or she had pissed them off. Her social skills seemed to have gotten knocked out on the battle field.

Sakura appreciated the quiet and warmth of his home as she sat the table.

"How is Sasuke?"

Itachi didn't even try to hide his smirk as he set down their cups of tea.

"He's well."

"Has he been keeping up with his training?"

"Yes, we've done some together."

"And have you gotten your eyes healed?"

Silence.

"It's your turn to come here."

Itachi sighed and scooted over so she could run her finger tips along his temple. She frowned as she examined the coils.

"They're nearly shredded. Can you see anything?"

"I made due for – "

Sakura flicked him in the ear. Saving all of Konoha or not, he should have been smart enough to figure out how to do it without being so damn self-destructive.

"Idiot! No excessive use means no excessive use. You're supposed to be a genius. Figure it out!"

Itachi sighed and sat in silence as he felt her chakra spinning around his coils.

"How did you do it – hey, closed eyes!"

Itachi closed his eyes again and just raised his brows.

"I mean… you made an impossible choice. And everyone hated you. How did you do it?"

"I infiltrated a terrorist organization."

Sakura wacked him on the back of the head.

"I'm being serious!"

"As am I. And if you could stop hitting me, that would be nice."

Sakura resisted the laugh welling up in her chest. That stupid Uchiha sense of humor. She resisted the urged to flick him in the ear again for making her laugh while so upset. She had already cried once today, she wasn't trying to have a repeat.

"Seriously, how did you? I mean, I just don't know what to do or how do I fight with people that hate me?"

Itachi shrugged.

"I detached myself and knew I made the right choice. Every time I saw Sasuke, or knew he was doing well and the village was prospering and intact. I knew I didn't regret it."

"I don't know if there was a right thing in my situation."

Itachi shrugged.

"Morality is subjective. You just have to figure out if what you did aligns with your morals."

Sakura gnawed her lip and remembered her mantra – Save as many allies as possible, screw the rest. But, she had felt that chipping away for months. She felt the weight of that mantra keeping her grounded. And that's where she thought she needed; to be grounded. But, it had been like slugging through mud to save one of her best friends.

Should it really have been so difficult to save someone who mattered?

Sakura frowned as she finished her tea and left Itachi with strict instructions to not utilize his sharingan at all. She knew he wouldn't listen, but maybe he'd at least not use the mangeyko if she said no sharingan at all.

She kicked a rock into the river and walked home, enjoying the chill of the evening. Stupid, Itachi. She always left with more questions than answers after she visited him.

* * *

A/N: I hope ya'll don't hate me too much? That was a really rough chapter to write. But I hope it was enjoyable despite how sad it is. It can only go up from here, right? Next chapter will definitely be less sad.

Thank you for reading!


	22. Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One

* * *

Apologies were never Tsunade's strong suit. Presumably, they were also not Sakura's. Forgiveness also didn't seem to be something that came easy to either of them, but nonetheless Sakura knew she couldn't stay angry at Tsunade for a long. The woman was her Hokage for heaven's sake. She was also her mentor and in a weird way, her friend.

So, she actively tried to not look pissed off when she had to report to Tsunade's office for a mission.

Tsunade seemed just as awkward about it with the way she was sitting up straight and not leaning on her palm. Her hands were folded on her desk as if she had just popped out of an etiquette class.

If she was in a better mood, Sakura might have laughed. It was sorta funny. But it was also awful – and focusing on the awful was really all she was able to do lately.

"Lady Fifth."

"I need you to go on a retrieval mission to the enemy camp. They have a few prisoners. We need one of them back specifically."

Three months ago, Sakura would have demanded she save all of them. But, three months ago her eyes weren't so dry from crying that they were bloodshot. Three months ago, she would have had a willing team to back her up. Three months ago, she would have actually given a shit about this goddamn village.

So, she didn't say anything.

Tsunade handed her the scroll, she bowed and turned to leave.

"Sakura, I…"

Sakura stopped and gripped the scroll harder. A gross feeling of hope rose in her chest and she immediately stuffed it down because every time she hoped lately, she was disappointed and she couldn't deal with being disappointed anymore.

"It's an A-Rank. Come back alive."

Sakura nodded, but didn't turn around.

"I always do."

* * *

The mission began in four days. Thank god, because it definitely was an A – Rank. The prisoner was damn near in the middle of the camp. Maybe if they weren't so short on people, she would have been sent with a team. Sakura shrugged and paced over to the training field.

There was no point in dwelling on it.

Especially when there was someone on the training ground.

"Sasuke?"

He glanced up from his exercises.

"You're late."

That feeling was creeping up her throat again. She stuffed it down, but couldn't help the small smile.

"I had to get a mission."

Sasuke didn't acknowledge the fact she said anything. But he also didn't leave the field. Sakura went through her work out and other than the heavy breathing and clanging of metal it was silent. But, it was nice to have someone in her vicinity for once.

Sasuke stopped a little before she did. She finished her push-ups and flopped down near the tree he was leaning against.

"I'm really –"

"What sort of mission is it?"

Sakura shrugged. "ANBU, can't talk about it yet."

She paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to say it. How to explain the fact she'd betrayed him and lied to him and –

"Itachi told me."

Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I didn't want to. Really, but Tsunade asked me to, and that's not an excuse and I really didn't want to, but it was that or he really died or the village got destroyed or I don't know, but I don't think I had a choice, but I did. I could have told you and I didn't and I'm sorry – "

"Stop rambling."

She felt twelve again as she immediately clammed up and hugged her knees. She was rambling and it was barely making sense. He had a point.

"I'm sorry. I know it doesn't excuse it, but really, I'm sorry."

Sasuke shrugged and stood up, brushing off his pants.

"You did what you had to do."

"Does that mean you…"

He ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged.

"You saved him. And Naruto. You saved them when I couldn't, so yes – I do."

Sasuke extended an arm to her and she smiled taking his hand.

"Thank you."

Sasuke shrugged again, turning away and walking off the grounds.

"Yeah, Captain."

* * *

Sakura's lack of self-preservation was notorious. She didn't care what happened to her. What was important was her allies and village – and that was when she had something to live for.

Mix in nothing to lose with a lack of self-preservation and Cobra was probably one of the more deadly and dangerous ANBU to walk around for a long time.

The prisoner was slung over her shoulder. He was mostly conscious. The mission had gone exactly as planned. It was actually a miracle in itself. But, the nature of it kept nagging in her gut. There had been fourteen other prisoners.

Fourteen Suna and Konoha ninja bound and starved and probably tortured. But this was the only one she was supposed to get. Sure, he had the more intel. Sure, he was the highest ranking. But, what the hell was that crap?

Why did he deserve better? Why does he get his freedom and the others are left to die?

It wasn't fair.

The entire world wasn't fair, but this? Sakura could do something about. It only took twenty-five miles for her to decide to do it.

She knelt down beside the man. He grunted and his eyes blinked open.

"C-Cobra?"

Sakura shook her head and ran her hands over him. His wounds were superficial, but his chakra low. However, a little bit of work and he'd be in fine condition to travel.

"I'm going to heal you. Konoha is due west. Do not stop. Do not come back. Do you understand?"

The man nodded, slowly.

Thirty minutes later and she nodded to him. He looked back and she knew what he was thinking. He wasn't stupid. He didn't become a seasoned chunin because of lack of experience. Sakura was heading back into an enemy base and trying to take fourteen people out with her. It was absurd.

"I'll tell Lady Fifth you need back up."

Sakura almost laughed.

"No one will come anyway, plus, it'll probably be too late."

He clapped a hand on her shoulder. Her identity wasn't a secret anymore. The man knew she was a young girl and knew exactly what she did in the war. But, he nodded and an almost-smile danced on his face.

"For what it's worth, what you did at the battle was amazing."

She had never been so grateful for her mask. The warmth of his hand on her shoulder radiated through her entire body. Sakura nodded.

"Thank you."

Sakura turned and bounded through the trees. She had never met him before. She'd seen him on the rosters for missions and at meeting, but never engaged with him. Maybe he had a family. Maybe he didn't. But at least he was kind.

And if she didn't make it out alive, at least she'd helped one person.

The base was in a state of alert at this point. They'd figured out someone was missing. She was good, but not that good.

Sakura threaded her fingers through several poisoned kunai and slunk through the shadows she'd memorized earlier. She debated whether or not to cast a genjutsu. She could do a decent enough one to mask her appearance.

But one good sensor, and her cover was blown. Sakura glanced around and bit her lip. Maybe if they were in enough disarray they wouldn't notice.

She sighed and went through the jutsu. She walked through and focused so hard on her chakra. She needed to suppress it. Needed to suppress it. Crap – she had gone left instead of right. But turning around would be suspicious, right? Right.

Sakura lapped the camp and headed back toward tent of prisoners. She released the jutsu as she slipped into the shadows. She took a long breath and went to slip through the cut in the tent she had made last time.

She saw the ground, bound and gagged. They eyed her, recognizing her from last time. She signaled their silence and really hoped Sand had remembered the Konoha hand signals because she did not remember theirs.

No one moved and Sakura slunk through untying and unsealing. Several were injured – four. Only one was severe, but he was also the strongest of the group – crap. But the other ten were intact – starved and drained, but they could move.

She gnawed her lip. She hadn't really thought through an escape plan. Well, she had, but there wasn't a single good one.

"Cobra." Sakura's head spun. A small woman, stood up and brushed herself off. She was from Sand.

"Misa. I'm a jonin. I'm the least injured. I have an idea."

And an idea she did have. An idea definitely out of Sand – because it was _mental_.

But it was their only shot.

Sakura swallowed. They had enough earth and wind users, it could work. Especially since they weren't in terrible shape after being healed.

"We go west."

Misa shook her head. "North. There's less guards."

Apparently, she was a sensor, too. How useful.

Sakura cracked her knuckled and slit a hole in the tent facing north. With a flurry of hand signals pure mayhem erupted.

Sakura's knuckles pounded southward, then eastern, then western. All the ground around them was shattered. Wind sliced through everything north ward and the earth around the trail was booming with walls. They had made a path and Sakura was left to secure that it stayed that way.

Misa was back for a moment and as Sakura pounced down on some of the first responders, Misa shot several fireballs before throwing seven explosive tags and running. Sakura clashed with several guards.

Block, dodge, stab. Slice. There was two in front, one behind. Now one on her left, but one in front was down.

There was no offense, not while surrounded. She couldn't get a punch or kick in. Block after block, dodge after dodge. There were so many. And damn it, when did she start bleeding?

Sakura could feel her muscles weakening. Her blocks were just in the nick of time, her dodges would barely miss her, a graze here and there. There were just so many.

She spun to slip to the side of a sword, it was coming down and her arm was moving her tanto block – crap crap crap –

Metal clanged, a chain wrapped around the sword.

Sakura knelt down as a swarm of bugs flew over her and chakra flew in circles.

They were here – her friends were here and they were kicking _ass_.

* * *

"Would it kill you to obey a mission's orders for _once_?"

Sakura crossed her arms. She wasn't even going to pretend to be sorry anymore.

"I obey them all the time, Lady Hokage."

Tsunade's fist collided with the desk.

"I sent you in to save one hostage – you came back with over ten!"

Sakura slammed her hands on the desk, matching her mentor.

"I'd call that a win."

"I'd call that insubordination."

Sakura started at her. Screw this, she wasn't backing down. All but one hostage had made it out alive. If she hadn't gone back who knows how long they would have lasted.

Tsunade caved first, turning and looking out the window.

"Three days off the active duty list."

Sakura grinned.

"And no hospital."

She frowned, but sighed. Fair enough, she had directly disobeyed orders. She backed out of the room and turned to be face to face with Shikamaru.

She froze. She didn't know exactly where he stood on the whole 'is Sakura to blame for killing my parents?" issue.

"You did the right thing."

Sakura bit her lip, was he referring to the battle or mission? Both?

"I try to do my best to always do the right thing."

Shikamaru shrugged and started walking past her.

"I'm talking about both things. Anyway, later."

* * *

Sakura held her coffee close to her chest as she flipped through one of her textbooks. Being off active duty sucked, especially while they needed to be taking action against the people literally next door.

But she was sore as hell from the mission. She had been healed quickly and basically ran from the hospital, but they had a point, she was not in great shape. Her burn scars on her arms were still tender and she had just earned herself a new scar on her hip where she'd gotten stabbed.

If it hadn't been for Tenten, Neji and Shino, she would have been dead. She was stupid. But otherwise the prisoners would have died. Or, well, more of them would have died. And she was freaking sick of people dying.

But they still hadn't said a word to her on the way back. Given, she was too exhausted to even try, but they had said nothing.

Someone knocked on the door.

Sliding out of her blankets, she went to open it.

Oh.

"Hey."

"May I come in?"

Sakura tucked her hair behind her ear and moved to let Neji by.

"Sure."

Up until now, Sakura had been sure a humid day in Konoha was the heaviest air she had ever felt. But, as Neji placed a small basket of apples on her table them sat on her couch – she realized she was dead wrong.

This was way – way worse.

She sat on her arm chair and curled the coffee to her chest again. What could he want? He brought her apples? But he still seemed so angry. What the hell was he doing here?

She went to open her mouth to say something – anything to make this heavy air dissipate because holy shit it was suffocating.

But he beat her to it.

"You're so frustrating, you know that?"

* * *

A/N: I struggled a lot writing this chapter (well mostly the second half). Words just didn't come, so sorry this took over a week to get up. Hopefully next chapter will be better. Though this one should mend some of the wounds I gave you guys from last time?

Updates will be sporadic for the next month or so. I'm going on a trip for a work for two weeks, then will be taking care of three kids for a week...so it'll be a crazy month. I'll try to get at least two chapters out during it, but no promises.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Thank you reading :)


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

* * *

"Your goddamn logic makes no sense."

It wasn't like Neji to swear. Frankly, it wasn't like Neji to show up to someone's house unannounced at night and start insulting them. But, it also wasn't like Sakura to sit there with nothing to say.

So, it was weird all around. She couldn't blame Neji for that.

Sakura rested her chin on her knees.

"I don't get what you're getting at – "

"You almost died!"

Neji slammed his fist into the arm chair and Sakura's blood ran cold.

She stared at Neji as he gripped his pants and his hair fell over his face. Small, choking sounds started to come from him and Sakura's heart ended up in her throat.

"Neji.. I.. I'm just.. I'm sorry."

Sakura couldn't decide whether to move closer or further as his shoulders heaved. Her need to comfort won as she inched closed and rubbed his knee.

"Lee died. Lee wasn't supposed to die. Not yet."

She slid onto the arm of the chair and put an arm around his shoulders. He was right. Lee was supposed to come home. He was supposed to take on a genin team during peacetime and show them the power of youth. He wasn't supposed to sacrifice himself yet.

"I know," she shushed as stroked his head, leaning him into her chest.

"I wish there had been another way, Neji. But Naruto – "

Neji pushed off of her and his red eyes and stained cheeks dared her to continue.

"And then you ran in there and were unconscious for a _month_."

Sakura looked down at her hands as they twisted around.

"I.. I had to. I'm his captain. There was no other – "

"I had lost Lee and didn't know if you were coming back. I had no one."

"There was Tenten."

"She's not the same, Sakura. She can't even look at Gai. And you didn't even reach out to her –"

"You two were furious with me! That day I saw you in the cemetery –"

"You almost died! Of course, I was furious because you're always almost dying. And we had _just_ lost Lee."

Sakura huffed back into the couch. This was stupid and ridiculous. If they were mad at her, how was she supposed to know why? How was she supposed to reach out to them?

"Fuck you."

"Fuck me? Fuck you and your suicide mission stupid shit. _Why_ are you always trying to die?"

"I'm not trying to die! I saved over ten people instead of one. Sorry if saving people is so awful for you."

"It wasn't the mission." Neji's lips pressed into a hard line as he stared ahead, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh! Screw the fucking mission, Neji. Duty, honor, fate, mission. Shut up. I thought we got over that. It's your duty and your mission to serve the main house? How is that going? Great, I'm sure."

"How dare you – "

"No! How dare you! How dare you be mad I saved people!"

"Then why didn't you save Lee! Why Naruto!"

Sakura stood up, balling her fists.

"Get the out of my house."

Neji's head spun to look at her, and for a moment, she swore she looked apologetic. But she must had needed her eyes checked because his stare was harsh and his lips were pursed.

"Gladly."

He slammed the door behind him and Sakura collapsed onto the couch. She held her head in her hands, cursing everything. He had reached out to her and she had told him to leave. She swore she was smarter than this – really.

* * *

Ino hadn't been at the flower shop since the first time Sakura had stopped in ages ago. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was Ino avoiding her. God only knows, but a small boy always checked her out.

Except today.

Ino was there and her expression dimmed the second she realized it was Sakura walking through the door. Sakura did her best to remain impassive. She gathered the same ones she always did and brought them to the counter with correct change already counted.

"Five – "

Sakura answered with placing the money on the counter and turning to leave.

"My father wouldn't have wanted me to be angry with you."

Sakura spun around and took in Ino's face. She seemed as bold as ever, but she was gripping the counter and it seemed like she was gnawing her lip.

And Sakura knew her expression wasn't exactly stoic either. She'd missed Ino. She'd missed Ino more than Neji and Tenten. And that was saying something because damn, she missed training with them, but Ino was her best friend.

Ino had been the catalyst for her even becoming a shinobi, or at least becoming a shinobi worth their weight. And Sakura knew what it was like to lose a father and mother. And she had loved her parents, really. But Ino was basically attached to her father. They were best friends in a way that Sakura would never understand.

Sakura wanted nothing more than to help heal the wounds that had been left behind, but it hadn't been her place. And maybe it still wasn't her place to help, but she'd been avoiding it for so long and maybe just maybe –

"What, forehead? Spit it out." It came out harsh, but the corners of Ino's lips twitched up.

"I was going to say something nice, pig, but not anymore." Sakura wrinkled her nose at Ino and tried to resist the smile creeping onto her face.

The moment hung between them for a moment before Ino took a small breath.

"I needed someone to blame. And well, it's not your fault. Even if you…" Ino waved into the air and made a small huffing noise. "It could have happened anyway. It's war. And in a weird way, I missed you." Ino crossed her arms and shrugged.

Sakura nodded and felt the edges of her eyes brimming a bit.

"I missed you, too. Can we do lunch or dinner before one of us goes on a mission?"

Ino busied herself with a bouquet, smiling.

"I'd like that."

With a small wave, Sakura ducked out of the shop. Well, at least Ino wasn't angry anymore.

* * *

The memorial stone rarely had anyone at it. When people did come, they would usually give a brief prayer, or have a smoke then be on their way. No one tended to sit and stare at it. Sakura's place of a choice was a small tree to the left of it.

Inconspicuous enough that most people wouldn't notice she sat there the entire time they were there, if they noticed her at all. It was peaceful and the offered shade from the beating sun. And she could chat with everyone she liked from here without everyone hearing her.

But, she'd finished lamenting about twenty minutes ago. She really wished Lee could talk back. He'd have fixed it all by now. He'd have shoved her and Neji on a training field together and made them battle it out. He'd have linked up Tenten and her ages ago and made them start talking about nothingness until it didn't matter anymore.

He really did a spirit stronger than a typhoon.

"Yo."

Sakura definitely did _not_ fly ten feet in the damn air.

"Jumpy, are we?"

Sakura just blinked at Kakashi as she squatted next to her. He shrugged and flopped down next to her.

"You've been here a lot."

"You've been here a lot."

"That's usual for me. Not for you."

Sakura wrapped her arms back around her knees.

"Well, things change."

"Mm, that they do."

The silence was comfortable. She'd always figured someone else being with her here would be odd. It was a place of mourning and remembrance, but Kakashi's presence was strangely welcome. She gnawed her lip.

"Does it ever stop?"

She meant the hurt, of course. Her chest had been pounding when he father died, and with Lee and Inoichi gone, it had damn near ripped out altogether.

"No."

Sakura leaned her chin into her knees. Of course it didn't. If it did, it probably would have by now. It had been several -

"But it does numb."

She perked up and turned her head. Kakashi kept looking ahead, leaning back on his hands.

"Having people – friends – that are here. That helps."

All of the times Sakura had witnessed the ridiculous challenges between Gai and Kakashi. They had been so dumb to her then. She'd scoffed at how annoying it was that he would take off from training to skip forty laps around the village or see who could fold the most paper cranes in five minutes.

Gai and Kakashi were friends and Gai was the one who helped numb the pain.

"How is Gai-sensei?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"Proud. Devastated. We've been training a lot."

Sakura bit her lip and now Kakashi was returning the favor. She nodded.

Things with Ino were better, but Neji...Damn it.

"Hyuga was training in seven. In case you were curious."

Sakura stood up and shook her head. Maybe Kakashi had copied a mind-reading jutsu back in the day because he always seemed to just spew things at convenient times.

"You should head out too, Kakashi-sensei."

"Mah, mah –" Kakashi waved her off. "- I have more dead friends than you to talk to."

"Well, don't stay too long." Sakura offered a small smile and something resembling a bow before turning for training ground seven.

* * *

Of course, Kakashi was right. Neji was running through his work out and, judging by the way he was panting and how his hands were shaking just barely, he was almost done.

Sakura took a long breath and stepped out into the field.

"Hey."

Neji kept going. His movements as fluid as ever. She'd always admired how graceful his fighting style was. Hers was direct and brash, but Neji fought like a dancer.

Sakura dug into her pouch and twisted her fingers into a kunai before throwing it toward his blind spot. In a flurry – he spun and deflected it. He stopped and deadpanned.

"So, you do know I'm here."

"The pink hair has never been good for infiltration." His voice didn't carry the usual lightness it did when he teased her.

"Look. Neji – "

"You made yourself clear, Sakura."

Sakura closed her eyes and took a long breath. She needed to be sorry – not angry. And she _was_ sorry.

"I know that I don't always make the most… safe choices –" Neji rolled his eyes and she frowned, attempting to remain calm. He was so annoying sometimes. But, at least he was reacting instead of just being stoic.

"-but you know I can't just let… I have to do _something_. And I'm sorry."

"You should know to call for back up. We shouldn't have to always follow you around."

Her eyes narrowed, so Tsunade knew she was going to be reckless. Damn it. That _was_ a little ridiculous. But, it's not like she wasn't effective. She'd only gotten herself almost killed…three times now…

"I didn't think anyone would come. There's no point in calling if no one is coming."

Something shifted in Neji's face. His jaw and shoulders tensed. He was angry. Sakura took a step back in anticipation and grimaced as he stepped forward and wound up.

But his arms went around her and she was rigid. He was… Hyuga Neji was… hugging her?

"You idiot. You damn idiot. We'd always come for you."

She relaxed into his embrace, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in the crook of his neck. The tears flowed out. Months' worth of tears and sobs sputtered out into his shoulder.

They…cared. People cared. Neji cared. Tenten cared. They had come for her. Despite everything, despite all the issues – they would come for her. They hadn't thought twice.

Sakura peeled herself off of him and took a step back brushing her face into her knuckles and chuckling softly.

"I.. sorry… just.. this was so dumb."

Neji brushed against his shoulder.

"It was. Now, I have change before dinner."

"You'd have to change anyway, jerk. You were sweaty and gross."

Neji raised his brows and grinned.

"Well your snot didn't help." The lightness was back.

Sakura shook her head, smiling, and moved, so he could pass to head back home.

"I'm getting dinner with Tenten. You should join. She'd be glad to see you."

Sakura's eye widened a little as she nodded eagerly. Neji shook his head at his expression and left the grounds.

The tree to her left was all that kept her from falling over a moment later as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. _Breathe_ , she reminded herself. _You need air to live_.

But, it was… things were normal. Well, as normal as they could be. Neji and Ino weren't angry. Sasuke seemed functional. Kakashi was weird. Tenten didn't hate her. And Lee… well hopefully he was happy where he was. She gnawed her lips and took a few breaths to recover from the emotional onslaught.

Minutes later there was strange chakra in the village. Her brow furrowed and her head snapped into the direction automatically. It was… No way. She broke into a sprint toward the chakra. It was overpowering and intoxicating and coming straight out of training ground nine.

Before she could even set foot on the training ground, her eyes widened as a bright orange blur came flying at her. It crushed her into a hug and with her arms stuck at her sides, she didn't ave the option to greet him back.

Finally, he put her down and she started at him as the glow diminished.

"What the hell is _that_ , Naruto?"

Naruto scratched under his nose and beamed.

"I learned a new trick or two while away, ya know."

* * *

A/N: YAY! Chapter twenty-two is out. I really really enjoyed this chapter. I love Kakashi - so that was my favorite scene in case you were curious lol. I hope you all enjoyed all the pieces being put back together after I ripped them to shreds. Also.. I'm not being terribly slow with updates thankfully? Aha.

Anywho - the last arc begins next chapter! I'm not sure on the exact length, but I hope ya'll enjoy it. The support thus far has been...outstanding. As always, reviews and such are always appreciated - I love hearing what you think and chatting with ya'll.

Thanks for reading! :)


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three

* * *

Sakura went through her cycles of fidgeting. Wiggling her toes, gnawing her lip, and tapping her fingers together. If she rotated them randomly and often, maybe everyone else in the room wouldn't notice how damn anxious she was. She hadn't been in a diplomat meeting in months. Why the hell had she been invited? And what the fuck was going on?

"Choji… what is going on?"

He turned to her and shrugged. "I dunno. I'm happy you're here, though."

"Yes, Sakura. It's nice to have you back," Hinata chimed in with her gentle smile. Having both Hyuga princesses as diplomats really, really helped with political pull. Hanabi was down at the other end of the table, however, chatting with several other young members.

"Back?"

Sakura was _back_ to anything. Yes, she was invited. Yes, she had pulled out some of her appropriate formalwear but she had not been reinstated, had she?

There wasn't time for her to get an answer, as Tsunade shuffled in and everyone rose before bowing.

"Yes, yes. Sit down – this is urgent. Sakura, welcome back," Sakura went to respond, but was cut off. "Yes, back. We could very much use and appreciate your input."

Hinata tossed her a warm smile and Sakura shrugged. She did like this job, it was more… well it wasn't less morally grey, but at least it usually didn't involve direct murder. Though, after the entire Kabuto experience, she wasn't exactly eager to get back into negotiations.

"As we are all aware the situation is dire. I've had meetings with several of the advisors and we are in no shape to take on the enemies right next door. But, Lightening has reached out. And we need to secure this alliance if we want any chance of winning this."

Frankly, Sakura had little to do with lightening during her time creating and maintaining alliances. Most of her time was spent in the west. There was little she could offer in terms of information about them, or blackmail. She could reach out to her network, but with the war in such dire –

"Naruto is key to ensuring this."

 _Oh._

* * *

"I'm not doing it."

Sakura nearly threw her teacup.

"This is fate of the _entire village_ , Naruto. You can't just not tell us where he is."

"Who knows if he's even there anymore!" Naruto threw up his hands and paced away.

"Then we'd track him from there. They're trying to help him. That's why they've come to us." Sakura leaned back in her chair and ran her fingers through her hair. They'd been at this for thirty minutes now.

"I said I'm not giving him up. They tried to kill him. I don't trust 'em!"

Sakura knew that glint in his eye. The sheer determination. On a typical day – she admired that glint and all it stood for, but today and targeted against her own goals, it was damn annoying.

* * *

"Convince him! He's listens to you."

Sasuke leaned against Sakura's counter and ran his fingers through his hair.

"He's not easily convinced."

"Then use a stupid genjutsu or something." Sakura flopped back onto her couch and groaned at Sasuke's frown.

'You know what I mean, Sasuke. Just… ease him into telling you…"

"I'm not putting him under a genjutsu, Sakura. But I do have an idea."

* * *

Sakura had worked with Karin before, briefly, right before the battle on the East Coast – and well… she wasn't the worst person in the _entire_ world. And her sensing skills were pretty good, but the way she flirted with Sasuke was appalling.

"Of course, I remember that chakra, Sasuke. How can I ever forget it?" Karin had draped herself over his entire right side and Sasuke looked more panicked than Sakura had ever seen him. His body was stiff, his eyes were wide and staring back at her, pleading.

"Well, Sasuke, you – uh – a mission? Yeah? Or was it guard duty? Yeah, you're taking my guard duty for tonight right?"

Karin's entire face fell – had Sakura been this pathetic when she was fangirling over Sasuke? She shuddered at the thought – _probably_.

The second Sasuke was out of sight, Karin's face leveled and she turned to Sakura, perking a brow.

"Ready to hunt down a tailed beast?"

Sakura smirked back. Maybe Karin wasn't so awful after all.

"Yeah, make sure you can keep up."

Karin snorted.

"You're one to talk, pinkie."

* * *

Cloud wanting to ally with Konoha would literally change the course of the war. They could win with Cloud on their side, but mandating Konoha fix their own problem was ridiculous. It was not her fault they allied with a country that had cut a deal with a terrorist organization. But was it her mess to clean up? Of course, it was.

Mist had sold out their jinchuriki to the Akatsuki to form an alliance. Apparently, Cloud didn't realize how dedicated the Akatsuki were to acquiring the jinchuriki because they thought they wouldn't come after theirs.

Idiots. Who was in charge of their alliances? They needed to be fired.

Getting word on their allies' jinchuriki killing tendencies, the eight tails jinchuriki had fled the village and gone missing. How in the hell does a village just lose their jinchuriki for god sakes?

And of all people to find him – Naruto? Well, Yamato had found him, technically, but Naruto knew where he was hiding. Noble, I-would-never-hurt-my-friends, Naruto.

Now, it was Sakura's job to find him, and convince him to go home.

In turn, Cloud would ally with Leaf.

Freakin' delightful.

Sakura nearly bashed into Karin's back.

"It's gone. Completely gone. It was moving then…" Karin gnawed her lip.

" – He must have gone somewhere that suppresses his chakra."

Karin glared. "I figured that out, I'm not an idiot – "

"I wasn't impl-"

"Shut up! I'm focusing."

Sakura clamped her mouth shut and rolled her eyes. Karin was murmuring under her breath and glancing around.

"We'll head Northeast. That's the way he was before he disappeared."

Sakura nodded and took off with Karin. The way Karin sensed chakra miles away was outstanding. She could sense chakra, sure. She knew it was there, but matching its signature to a person? She couldn't do that and she certainly wouldn't be able to trail their chakra for miles.

"The way you track is impressive."

Karin furrowed her brow and shrugged.

"It's not like I worked to be able to do it. I just can."

"Either way, it's helpful."

"Yeah – when they don't essentially seal their chakra." Karin wrinkled her nose, frowning.

Sakura shrugged and refrained from throwing a spiteful comment about how rude it was to not accept compliments.

They traveled in silence for the next hour as the sun set and the area around them began to darken.

"We need to stop."

"We can travel just fine in the dark," Sakura said, practically skidding to a stop.

Karin crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "What if we have to fight him? How well will that go while exhausted? Christ, you should know better. Aren't you supposed – "

"- I get it. We'll make camp."

Working with other people sucked. Sakura had gotten a little used to it with Neji, Naruto, and Sasuke, but anyone else was just annoying. They always underestimated her and always treated her like she didn't know what she was doing. And she did know what she was doing. How dare –

"Do you always have such a stupid look on your face?"

"I'm sorry?"

Karin was deadpanning her, but if she squinted hard enough she could see almost a playful look on her face.

"You look like this is the worst day of your life. And if this is the worst day of your life princess then – "

"It is _not_ the worst day of my life." Sakura's eyes narrowed and with the scowl spreading over her face she briefly considered that she may be spending too much time with Neji and Sasuke.

Karin shrugged. "Then stop looking so stupid."

"Sasuke was right, you are insufferable."

Karin bolted up, her log flying back behind her and Sakura swore her lip was quivering.

"He would not say that about me! You take that back!"

Oh fuck, she had actually maybe hurt her feelings. _Shit_. This chick was obsessed. Sakura raked her fingers through her hair.

"Fine, fine. We've never even talked about – "

"And you keep your nasty paws off of him, you hear!"

Sakura couldn't help it, she laughed. She laughed so hard tears started brimming her eyes and she honest to god was a little worried that she gave their location away to any enemies in the area.

"Karin," Sakura said through breathy chuckles, "even if I was interested in anyone right now, the last person it would be in Sasuke. You can have him and all his moody glory."

Her crush on Sasuke had died along with their friendship and never really revived when the friendship did. Maybe one day she'd have crushes on people again, but today was not that day.

Karin was suddenly right next to Sakura on her log, their arms brushing.

"He is a bit moody. Makes him unpredictable, though."

Memories of Sasuke used susanoo to swing to tree trunk during his distraction mission flashed across her mind. Sakura nodded, with a light smile.

"You can say that again."

* * *

How was it possible that the deepest sleep she had since before she'd become a shinobi was right now, on a mission? This was ridiculous. And she woke up with seventeen bruises from Karin kicking her.

"Damnit, pinkie – "

"Can you not call me that?"

"I'll call you whatever I want when you take thirty-five minutes to wake up on a pursuit mission for fucks sake. What if I was dying?"

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I never sleep like that."

"You better not again or I'm leaving you to get murdered."

Sakura tensed and frowned because she knew Karin meant it.

A few miles of silence passed. The terrain was becoming from flat, and they no longer had to bound through trees which was pleasant.

"So, did you pick up on his chakra again?"

"Obviously. That's why we're moving so quickly now."

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes, but swore Karin mumbled something that could have been an apology.

"We're really close get read-"

Karin clamped her mouth shut as a wave of chakra flew toward her. Sakura had only felt chakra like that once before, and last time she'd barely made it out alive.

* * *

Sakura tossed the mission reports on Tsunade's desk.

"I didn't know if you would want it in diplomat format or general mission format. I did both."

Tsunade perked a brow.

"You could have asked."

Sakura's lips pressed into an even thinner line and Tsunade began to grin.

"You're trying to work on your temper… what a nice skill."

"Mmmhmmm."

"Is there a reason you're so angry, Sakura?"

Sakura closed her eyes and tried the breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, but the second she went to open her mouth…

"What in the hell was that! That was the most absurd mission. You could have sent anyone, anyone on that. And you sent me? I'm not even good at tracking. Were you trying to punish me for something? I didn't even do anything this time – and you know what's even dumber? I'm not even the diplomat going to lightening! For god sakes, if you're going to reinstate me, go all the way!"

"Are you done?"

"Am I – stop it! I'm being serious! Why are you smiling!"

"Sakura, do you know why I involved you with this?"

"You love to watch me suffer." Memories of training where Tsunade would let her struggle with a task for hours flashed through her brain.

"I want you to assist with the strategy team."

Sakura's eyes widened and she bit her lip, clasping her hands.

"I… You want _me_ on the strategy team."

Tsunade clapped a shoulder on Sakura's arm.

"I need a right-hand man with Shizune running he entire hospital and medical staff."

"R-right hand man?"

Sakura's chest was tight, and she wasn't even sure if she was breathing at this point. Her? Her, a right-hand man. To the Hokage. Not Sasuke, not Shikamaru, not even Kakashi – _her_.

"Quit stuttering like that, you're going to make me reconsider."

"Thank you!" Sakura bowed and tried to not bounce up and down because holy shit, she was on the more crucial team in the entire war.

"Tomorrow ten in the morning. You're dismissed."

With a bow that would give a lesser being whiplash, Sakura ran out the door. She pounced onto the roofs and didn't a shit that people were staring at her because let them. She was was Haruno Sakura and she was going to be on part of a selective team of _elite_.

* * *

A shuriken whizzed past Sakura's face, nearly cutting off her bangs.

"Sakura, I didn't expect you of all people to use a _window_."

She climbed in from her perch and bounced onto Neji's bed.

"What exactly are – "

"I get to go to the meeting with you!"

Neji raised a brow and continued folding the clothes he'd been focused on before she interrupted.

"Well, of course you are."

Sakura's jaw dropped and she shook her head.

"Neji, this is _huge_. I'm not from some big name clan like you or have all these prodigy -"

Neji turned and shook his head. "You're the smartest kunoichi in the village. Of course, they invited you. They'd be stupid not to."

Sakura leaned forward on her knees. "Did you just compliment me?"

"Don't get used to it with that ridiculous look on your face."

Her face contorted into a frown and she chucked a pillow at his back.

"You're the one with a stupid face, you jerk."

* * *

A/N: Oh. My. God. This is so late and I'm so sorry. I don't think I've ever taken so long to update, but with work and life and oh my lanta - I'm sorry. I hope you all enjoyed. Writing Karin and Sakura together is fun. Like, super fun.

Updates will probably continue to be sporadic and about 2-3 weeks apart at this point. If you want more updates on when things are coming, my tumblr - ad0rkable or my twitter EmmaRaye6 are the best ways to get them.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed. I always appreciate reviews.

Thank you for reading! 3


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

* * *

In theory, putting all the greatest minds and strategists in Konoha in a room together was a good idea. Then again, in theory, most of the great minds didn't usually consist for people who fell into the social inept, lazy, idiot, or spiteful categories.

"Naruto, would you actually die if you stopped suggesting outlandish ideas?" Sakura huffed back into her chair. This was fifth time he had suggested something completely utterly asinine. No, asking Yamato to turn all the trees into soldiers would be utterly absurd. Why was that so hard to comprehend before he said it?

"This is such a drag." Shikamaru took a long drag of a cigarette he had lit god-knows-when and leaned against the window sill.

"Well maybe it wouldn't be if you contributed, _genius_." Neji had never been a fan of Shikamaru. The man was a genius, but so was Neji and he actually showed that he cared half the time.

"Maybe I could if someone's shrill voice wasn't so damn –"

Sakura grabbed his collar before he could finish.

"Say one more damn thing about troublesome women, Shikamaru. And I will show just how troublesome I can be!"

Shikamaru's eyes fluttered into a roll and Sakura wound up to punch him, but Sasuke caught her arm.

"It's not worth it, Sakura."

She spun and her face contorted into a scowl – definitely too much time with Neji and Sasuke – as she pushed him up against a wall.

"And _you_. Why don't you come up with some ideas, since you graduated at top of our class?"

Itachi leaned against the wall with Kakashi, who was about halfway through his novel.

"I thought you said she had learned to control her temper."

Kakashi shrugged, flipping a page.

"This is mild. She has never been one to take well to idiocy."

Itachi hummed lightly and Kakashi seemed to peek over the top of his book to survey the damage. Sasuke was still corned by a raving Sakura. Naruto was gesturing wildly at his notebook as he tried to explain to a new comer – Sai, was it? – exactly what he was trying to convey. Shikamaru was ignoring Neji's glare as he smoked a cigarette.

"Are you planning to assist Sasuke?"

Itachi snorted and shook his head.

"My brother should know better than to anger her. She has the nerve to scold _me_."

Kakashi took one more glance over the room.

"Tsunade is going to be absolutely furious when she sees the room in this state."

"We should probably do something to stop it."

"That would probably be the smart thing to do."

Kakashi and Itachi both glanced at each other as they heard the sound of heels clicking down the hall. Kakashi snapped his book shut and pocketed it. He shrugged.

"Too late now."

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"She's going to be furious."

And furious she was.

* * *

Four hours after the meeting began, they were finally sitting around a table with strict orders not to move and to keep hostile comments to a minimum. Also, Tsunade would be back in five hours and if she didn't have a damn plan she was going to lose her shit.

As if she hadn't already. And as if they didn't have the bruises to prove her threat to be certifiable.

"So, the real question is whether or not we want to attack them, or coax them into attacking us." Kakashi leaned on his palm, as impassive as ever with his commentary.

"Well fighting on our familiar ground would be a great advantage," Neji offered.

"It's all familiar ground considering they took fire country. They're less than a hundred miles away." Sasuke grumbled from three chairs over.

"No, he has a point. They could have planted traps and such if we attack them we'd be falling right into them. They wouldn't have been that successful thus far if they're not preparing for an attack."

Itachi folded his hands on the table as he glanced around waiting for a response.

Sakura gnawed her lip and shook her head as she weighed the options. "We can't have them attack us. Even if we evacuate… think about the damage to the village – "

"If we lose the damage will be – " Sai, or at least Sakura thought that's who he was, interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me. Who do you think you – "

"Lady Fifth said to refrain from yelling."

Sakura leaned across the table. "She also said to refrain from interrupting."

Sai went to open his mouth again and Naruto grabbed his arm.

"I wouldn't. She's scary when she's angry."

Sakura leaned back a bit and crossed her arms. At least her temper earned her some sort of respect around here.

"As I was saying," She glanced over at Sai. "The loss of life would be astronomical."

"I'm with Sakura." Shikamaru nodded to her. "The amount of damage done to the village would be massive. Especially with some people's abilities…"

"Okay, so, "Everyone's heads snapped over to Naruto. "What if we had the battle somewhere else?"

"That would be ideal, of course. However, they clearly want the village," Itachi said, nodding.

"They can't take fire country without taking Konoha," Kakashi added.

"I know, I know." Naruto said, and then a grin grew across his face. "What if they thought Konoha was somewhere else?"

"Naruto, that's – " Sasuke went to huff, but was cut off by Itachi.

"- brilliant."

If looks could kill, Sakura could have sworn Sasuke would have shot his brother dead. But, Naruto did have a point, and Itachi was right. It was brilliant, absurd, but brilliant.

"A genjutsu," Sakura whispered out and Itachi glanced at her, nodding.

Everyone leaned in a little bit more at the table.

"I'm not a genjutsu expert, but can one even stretch that far?" Shikamaru furrowed his brow.

"With enough chakra…Itachi, how much?" Kakashi drummed his fingers on the table as Itachi's lip pressed into a thin line and he examined the map at the table center.

"At least five genjutsu specialists."

"There's at least ten at chunin or higher – if not more," Neji offered and Sakura tilted her head and he shrugged. She was going to have to find out why on earth he knew about those records.

"Okay, but how are they going to…" Naruto intertwined his hands together at several angles.

The room went silent for a moment and Sakura tapped her foot. Linking people… particularly their minds –

"The Yamanaka clan." Sakura snapped as she said it and Kakashi nodded today her.

"Clever. One major issue – this plan takes quite a few of our of our heavy fighters. No, Itachi, Kurenai, or Yamanaka?" Kakashi raised his brows. He had a point.

"Good thing we have the best medic staff in the world."

Sakura turned, her eyes as wide as saucers. One, Sasuke had complimented their medic staff? Hm. Two - "Are you implying we will consistently heal them until the genjutsu is dissipated?"

Sasuke's deadpan and nod made her skin boil.

"A genjutsu to subtly move an entire village cast over an entire army could take weeks –"

"-will," Itachi added. "It will certainly take at least two weeks, if not three."

"You expect us to work our entire medic team non-stop for two weeks in order to make this work!" Sakura ran her fingers through her hair. "What are you going to do when we have actual wounded soldiers in battle?"

"Are you implying you _can't_ , Sakura?" The faintest hint of a smirk danced on Neji's face.

Sakura knew his game. He knew she loved to do the impossible, but this was – it was – there was _no_ way. Keeping ten people in peak fighting condition for two weeks? That was absurb, it would take damn near a miracle to do that and still have a functioning team of medics.

"I'm _implying_ , Neji, that it's a ridiculous plan, but the medical team in Konoha is completely capable of doing so. Count us in."

* * *

"You agreed to what? Who gave you the authority! This is the stupidest, most absurd plan I have ever heard, and are you aware of the teammates I was gifted with in my formative years? I asked for a strategy, not a goddamn fairy-tale!"

Sakura remained tight lipped post delivering the strategy. She knew it would be best, and she had even sugar coated it. She glanced up from her sandals when she realized that Tsunade was not, in fact, going to break her desk yet.

"It's our only shot – "

"I know we're in a bad position, but –"

"Lady Fifth!" Tsunade stopped and glanced at Sakura, and leveled her gaze.

"Going there is suicide. They'll have traps and even if we do win? Our losses would be so high that Valley could take us. And here? We'll face such infrastructure damage and even if we evacuated properly, the loss would be too much. And they will not attack anywhere else. It's – "

Sakura took a deep breath and twisted her fingers behind her back.

" – It's an absurd plan, but it's better than sure failure. I'll personally help organize the medics and crash course the new ones so we have enough medics for the battle. We can use the Hyuuga to monitor their chakra levels so we aren't needlessly healing. We have to do this. It's better than _nothing_."

Tsunade ran her hand over her face and took a long look at Sakura before shaking her head. And then she shook her head, _smiling_.

"God is this what it feels like to be on the other side of your negotiations? I can't even tell if you're just trying to convince me or being honest. But, whatever you're doing, it worked."

A breath Sakura didn't know she was holding escaped as she relaxed and placed a hand on her hip.

"Go get the others so we can flesh this out." Sakura nodded and bowed. Thank god this had worked if it hadn't… well god knows what they would have done if it didn't.

"Oh and Sakura?" Tsunade caught her as she was half out the door. She raised her brows.

"Tell Kakashi to come and face me himself next time instead of sending my student to butter me up."

Sakura smiled and nodded, chuckling silently as she jogged down the hall.

* * *

Sakura wiped her brow as she left the class room. Her students were ready. The genjutsu was almost complete. The medic team dedicated to keeping everyone in top shape had rotated, so most weren't in _awful_ shape, but not where Sakura would want them. There was one last group that had to form…the instigation task force.

Their efforts would be worth nothing if they couldn't force the army into attacking them.

While the Inuzuka were known for being trackers, there was one other thing they were excellent at – being assholes. Kiba's mother left the leadership of the team to him.

He recruited Shino's insects and Sai's beast scroll. One night, he had been complaining about Gaara wouldn't join the task force, despite how 'absolutely fucking awesome' it would have been. Kankuro, however, apparently joined immediately when asked because 'hell yeah he wanted to ruin some enemy's day.'

She let herself into her home and started getting a cup of tea together. She leaned against she counter and admired the lights of Konoha. It could be a long time before she could admire the city from her apartment. The way the moon hit the shingles made them glisten and between that, the torches to illuminate the streets, and the window lights, Konoha was looked ablaze. No wonder it was part of the land of fire.

* * *

"How long until they head toward us, you think?" Sakura waited in position with the rest of Squad Seven.

"Before noon at the latest with that show." Sasuke shook his head at the swarms of insects returning toward them.

"That was sweet!" Naruto leaned back and looked toward the sky. It was full of pinks and oranges as the sun began to rise.

Sakura glanced down at the valley below them. The hill was lined with people ready to fight. Shikamaru really had picked the perfect place for the battle. If they entered the valley, defeating most of them would be simple.

"Do you really think they'll fall for this? I mean I know Kurenai and Itachi are good – "

"They're the greatest genjutsu masters of our time, Cobra. I can barely tell it's a genjutsu and Ihave the sharingan." Sakura could see the eyeroll through his mask.

Sakura gnawed the inside of her lip

"I guess, just… I feel like it's too easy. It shouldn't be so easy to - "

"I get what you mean. But, we're just used to bad stuff happening you know?"

Sakura didn't have time to ponder whether her perpetual bad luck would come into play as five ink birds flew up into the sky.

"I guess we'll find out." Sakura looked around and cracked her shoulders.

Backs to each other Squad Seven took positon. Sakura glanced behind her for a moment, as she was facing away from the valley, to make check and see if people were coming.

As she turned back, she caught a blur orange and her stomach dropped. The man from the battle. He was supposed to be gone, _dead_. Her eye met the sharingan for a brief moment before she looked down at his feet.

Stupid, stupid. Don't make eye contact with sharingan. She went to swing her tanto, but Sasuke shoved her behind him.

"Sa – Fox! I can handle myself, I am your – " The outburst was instinct, but Sasuke was having none of it as she saw the purple building around him.

"Your sharingan. It's not the same as last time." Sasuke's voice was level and Sakura took two steps back to stand next to Naruto who was coiled and ready to pounce.

The orange-masked man's eyes seemed to upturn, just how Kakashi's did when he smiled, but he didn't have a chance to answer. A flurry of crows pushed Sasuke back and by the time they cleared, Itachi was straddling the man, kunai to his neck.

"You thought a genjutsu could trick me, Itachi?"

"I thought you were dead, _Shisui_."

* * *

A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter thus far, tbh. I hope you all enjoyed! :) Thank you so much for all your support (and I was faster this time!). Reviews are always appreciated.

Thank you for reading!


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

* * *

Sakura knew that name. She'd come across it in several of the files she'd read. Shisui was one of the strongest Uchiha of his generation, he had a flee on sight order. And he was fast, but other than that… his file had been bare. It was like it had been tampered with – and considering everything surround the Uchiha – it probably had been.

"Uh – guys – I get this is important and all, but we should probably check this out."

Naruto gestured behind them, being the voice of reason – that was one of the books.

Sakura's breath hitched for a moment as she saw the horizon. She had never seen so many soldiers. Those weren't just ninja. There were quite masses, and brown wood-looking creatures. With a long breath, Sakura straightened and cracked her neck.

"Are you ready, boys?"

She could practically _hear_ Sasuke's eye roll.

"Tch. I'm always ready."

"Let's kick some ass!"

Naruto was already breaking into a run and Sakura broke into a sprint behind him. This wasn't going to be pretty. Sakura skidded to a stop as a she sliced a white creature in half. The gunk it was made of left residue on her sword, but as a limb of wood came crashing down on her she didn't have much time to contemplate it.

From the north – there was a crash and Naruto cheered.

"Got 'em!"

Sakura pounced onto a creature in front of her, relishing in her ability to glance and see the damage. Temari and her team of wind users had collapsed in parts of the ravine on a mass of the… creatures. Most of the shinobi avoided it, but the mindless creatures had been at their mercy.

Sakura ripped her sword the rest of the way through the creature's body and nailed an oncoming one with a kick. It stumbled back and she took the seconds to sheath her sword and toward a punch – causing it to fly back into several more behind it.

She took a few steps back, suddenly back to back with Naruto and Sasuke.

"I think we are finally dwindling their numbers."

"Until the shinobi come – they were at the back of the group."

"Sasuke, what do you think happened with Shi – _shit_ \- " Sakura deflected the four shuriken.

"So much for being at the back of the pack."

The real battle began, the creatures were one thing, but real humans – those were different. They could, Sakura's kunai met another's, dodge. And their attacks – Sakura just barely ducked in time – were timed well.

Sakura dug the kunai into the man's neck and winced as she felt the blood spray over her. She was usually much less sloppy, but as another came to take his place she didn't have time to care.

She couldn't tell if they were low rank or she was just better because in the next seven minutes there were five men groaning and bleeding in her vicinity and several more surrounding her teammates. Where were the big guns? She was going to be exhausted by the – oh. _Oh_.

Sakura wrinkled her nose and frowned. They were tiring them out. Konoha didn't have any low rank people left – hell they didn't usually send out genin is general – they knew they were tiring out them out. She felt it in her muscles, she was tiring, not a lot, but it was there.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sasuke was sweating – his hair matting as he sliced his sword across a man's chest. But, just a few feet further and Naruto kicked a man into the ground, still full of rigor and spunk. Sakura took a small breath, and pursed her lips – aided by the fox for not, Sakura was not about to get shown up by him.

She was Cobra, damn it – she had a reputation to uphold.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure heading toward her. A strange, lollipop like weapon flew toward her neck. With a pivot, her tanto met the rod portion.

The man's face was covered by a handkerchief, but his eyes glinted with a sick joy.

"Cobra, how _lucky_ am I?"

Sakura scowled and twisted away from him, trying to slice from behind. The weapon blocked against her, and _fuck_ it was heavy. She slid back several feet before ducking under it. The man jumped back, putting the weapon over his shoulder.

"You're fast."

Sakura rolled her eyes, she wasn't one for mid-battle banter. Her eyes flickered over to the east as she saw team ten battling several baboons that had been summoned. A kunai was flying toward her and she shifted slightly to the right to avoid it.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

She resisted a snarl as she ran forward, digging through her pouch and finding exactly what she was looking for. The kunai met metal.

Her hand met flesh, and her thumb pressed down the injection. He hunched over and her knee met his chin, sending him several feet back.

"Cons of a two-handed weapon," Sakura spit out. Screw hating banter, this guy was _annoying_.

The man threw the vial out of his stomach and frowned, sniffing the blood on his hands. And then, his ripped his handkerchief off revealing a scaly mouth. It finally makes sense, she'd encountered this man before. He'd be a young chunin then, and she'd been new. It was one of the only people she'd ever let retreat.

The shock must have radiated off her because he licked the blood-ridden palm and winked.

"Finally put two and two together?"

Sakura gnawed her lip, irrationally grateful for her mask at that moment. This was bad, Gaku was good back then as a chunin, and he had a partner. He was bound to have grown a lot over the past few years. Now, where was the partner? He wasn't by Ino, she was with the baboons. And Neji, shit, where was Neji?

Sasuke and Naruto were fine, and Tenten was just past team ten.

Sakura dove to her right, the edge of the circular blade grazing her arm.

"Whatcha looking at, Cobra?"

Sakura flew into a series of punches. If she kept trying to nail him, he couldn't swing that massive thing. Jab, punch, kick. Nothing was landing, but he also wasn't able to swing back at her. As he backed away from a hook, he grinned.

"Got him."

She found the partner. He was heading toward Neji and Neji didn't see him. Neji was too busy being swarmed by a massive group. He wasn't going to see him in time, he wasn't. Sakura ducked under a punch from Gaku and broke into a run in that direction.

But, it hadn't been a punch. His weapon came apart and the circular part was flying east, right toward – _no_.

The world seemed to slow, but her feet were already dedicated to running toward Neji, but she could see it all. She could see Ino's eyes widen as she saw the blade at the last second. Ino's quick movements to stop the blade from ripping apart her insides. But, it gashed open her side and the forced behind it pushed her over the edge of the cliff. She could see every muscle twitch as Ino reached and grabbed desperately for the edge, but she'd been pushed back too far.

Where was Shikamaru? Where was Choji? Where was _anyone_? Sakura's feet kept pounding toward Neji, they wouldn't listen, they wouldn't turn. Ino's body fell out of her sight and Sakura knew all was lost. She knew there was no coming back from that fall, it was too long and the ground too jagged. No medics were available right now, they couldn't make it to the front-lines.

Sakura's eyes burned. They burned from the wind as she ran, burned from the sun in her eyes, and they burned from the fact that she had to choose. Her body had chosen Neji, but Ino. Ino was – fuck, she didn't have time. She had to –

Her tanto collided with a wide curved sword directed for Neji's head. The forced pushed the hilt into her mask and she felt it crack and shatter.

"Sakura!" Neji had finally turned and saw the stand-off in front of him.

Sakura stared at the man in front of her, with the bandana around his hand and his pointed smile.

"Nice mask," Joji goaded, pushing back against her more.

Sakura pushed out of the deadlock, leaping behind him. She fluttered through a few hand signs and pushed her hands into the ground, several jutted rocks throwing Joji off balance. The glare she got made the jutsu worth it.

"You little…." Joji snarled and ran at her. Sakura ducked from his sword, and went to kick his ankles, but he hopped to the left. Neji was at her back in seconds.

"His partner," Sakura growled, and went in for a punch, but Joji was faster.

"I noticed," Neji hissed back as he ducked under Gaku's weapon.

Sakura and Joji danced around each other, but she couldn't get a blow in. One _damn_ blow was all she needed and that'd be it. Joji raised his sword above it his and Sakura went to block in a kunai, but a chain flew through the air wrapping around the blade.

Turning the kunai in, Sakura funneled the chakra toward her fist and punched. He head turned and there was a crack, before he flew several feet off. Several feet away his body was limp, allowing Sakura a small breather.

"Saved you again, Cobra." Tenten appeared beside her, twirling the chain absent-mindedly.

Sakura scratched the back of her head and shrugged. "I owe you… again."

"Nah, that's what teammates are for."

Sakura bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, teammates."

A small grunt caught Sakura's attention. Shit, Neji.

"Swan!" Sakura pivoted to go back him up, but Tenten grabbed her wrist.

"I got this. They need you more over there."

Sakura glanced over her shoulder and saw another mass of soldiers had come through, but they seemed like… civilians. They weren't ninja, they were regular soldiers. That…complicated things. But there was one battle plan that could work. With a swift nod to Tenten, Sakura ran to into the field near Naruto and Sasuke.

"Thirty-seven!"

Naruto's head spun.

" _What?_ "

When Naruto, of all people, questioned your strategy it was anything, but reassuring.

"Trust me, damn it."

In the middle of a round house kick he grinned and shrugged. His body began to glow orange.

"Let's go, Fox!"

Sasuke grinned back that stupid smirk he only got when fighting with Naruto and Sakura.

"Better not screw this up."

"As if." Sakura spat back and fiddled through her pouch for the two things she'd need.

Sasuke and Naruto immediately lept to the outskirts of the masses, corralling them toward Sakura. For the split second Sakura saw their faces the genjutsu was clear with their glazed over eyes. It didn't matter, she had to do this. She turned around and ran down into the cavern. The boulders had formed a ramp. The group was nearing her heals, she was fast but people running for their lives would always be faster. Backing herself up into the dead end she spun and was face to face with nearly five hundred people.

With a deep breath she jammed a vial into her thigh and dropped a poison bomb. The coughing and wheezing was near immediate. They turned to each other and began grasping and grabbing. Sakura ducked down and ran through the masses, dropping a few more bombs as she went. The confused screams and howls were deafening. These were civilians, but what else was she supposed to do – let them kill her people?

They had overestimated how noble the Leaf was. They had taken her father, Ino, Inoichi, Lee, Shikaku, and countless other shinobi. She didn't care anymore. She didn't care that they sent in civilians. If they didn't want dead civilians – they should have kept them home.

Sakura made it back to the top of the cavern and leaned against Naruto for support as she healed the wound in her side. The blood was soaking through her shirt and if she didn't stop the bleeding soon, she was going to pass out.

She felt Naruto stiffen against her and when she looked up his eyes were wide.

"Sakura – are those… those are…"

"Civilians," Sasuke finished.

Naruto grabbed Sakura by the shoulders, his eyes wide and mouth pressed into a thin line.

"No. Sakura – they're not – you wouldn't –"

Sakura bit her lip and looked down.

"We would have lost otherwise. I had to."

Naruto shook her shoulders.

"No! Look at me. Look at me and say you had to."

Sakura looked up and swallowed. His desperate eyes met her and she bit the inside of her cheek. Visions of Ino and Lee flashed through her mind. Visions of all her injured comrades. Visions of the innocent people who would have died if they had lost.

"I had to."

Naruto pushed off her and turned away, heading back toward the more expansive part of the battlefield.

Things were dying down. The enemy didn't have many forces left. It wouldn't be long before they would be forced to surrender.

Sakura felt the air behind her shift and Sasuke's widened eyes didn't tell her much other than whatever was behind her was enough to shift his stoic expression. She turned around, her eyes widening as well.

Shisui was slumped against Itachi, his arm thrown around him to help his walk.

"Consider this our surrender. I may have been a little… _misguided_."

Itachi rolled his eyes.

"Misguided would be an understatement, Shisui."

Sakura nodded, barely able to catch a breath.

"I'll notify the kages. Sasuke, would you – " Sakura stopped herself, she was going to ask Sasuke to accompany her, but he was still near frozen as he stared at Itachi and Shisui.

" – stay here. And… keep an eye on them."

Sasuke's expression leveled and he nodded.

With a small flutter of blossoms, Sakura flickered the few miles back toward the headquarters.

They had won. It was done.

The war was over.

* * *

A/N: I have no excuse as to why this took so long other than the fact that I am just atrocious at writing action scenes, but I didn't want to just skip the whole battle (...like I usually do), but I also wanted it to not be complete trash. So it took a while. Apologies if this chapter is more clunky than my others. Action and such is very much something I'm still working on as a writer.

As you can tell, the story is winding down - we only have a few more chapters left! They will still contain a few more (hopefully pleasant) surprises, however!

If you do want more Broken Glass content - check out Calm and Collected, it's a Broken Glass scene from Neji's POV that I did for a challenge. I will possibly write for side - fics for this in the future. If you have requests, just leave it in a review or PM (or DM me on twitter, or on tumblr) and I'll try my best.

Thank you all for reading - I really appreciate your continued support 33


	27. Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

* * *

Sakura was sure the war was over – until she started at the hospital the following day. She had slunk past Shizune with the patch-job she'd done on her side and just started working. In the warzone that was now the hospital, no one seemed to notice. Or was too tired to care. Every single shinobi from genin to jonin needed to be cleared before going back into action according to Lady Tsunade.

They were triaged of course. The most immediate injuries had been brought in and everyone who was fine in all but actual clearance was sent home with a later date and time.

Sakura was impressed with the front desk's efficiency, honestly.

Her hands were raw and her head was pounding, but she could make it through one last patient. Room thirty-seven, and then she could be off for the mandatory thirty-six hours before coming back.

She opened the door and Itachi sat in the chair by the window.

"You're supposed to be in your bed."

He turned and perked a brow.

"I didn't realize. My sincerest apolo – "

"Enough of your crap, Itachi. I've been awake nearly forty-eight hours, I don't have the energy to deal with bullshit."

His expressed leveled and she sat down in front of him and he smiled back to her.

"I hope your day is restful soon. And I mean that."

Sakura sighed and held her fingers to his temple.

"I know you do, now let's just check in on your chakra coil– _oh my god_." The coils were barely threads at this point. She had split-ends that were thicker than them.

"Itachi, I gave you permission to use your eyes not destroy them. Can you even see anything right now?"

Itachi shrugged and glanced out the window.

"I've been assuming that's a tree."

Sakura flicked him in the ear.

"This not time to make a joke! Judging by the damage, we're going to have to graft the coils, and you're still going to have to wear glasses for the rest of your life. You absolutely cannot use your sharingan until – "

"I don't think I plan on used it again."

Sakura blinked. Itachi hadn't looked away from the window and his tone was soft, but not wavering.

"Your sharingan is the core of your fighting style, it would be near imposs –"

Itachi shifted a little and sighed.

"I may have phrased that less clearly than intended. I do not plan on fighting any longer. I'm done with wars."

The words hung between them for a moment. Sakura gnawed the inside of her lip, Itachi was young. He wasn't much older than her. But, he had been through two wars now, been used as a pawn to murder his family, and well… if anyone deserved an early retirement, he would be a good candidate.

"What happened between you and Shisui?"

For a brief moment, Itachi seemed to falter. His expression twisted into one of pained relief.

"We talked."

Sakura scanned over his bandaged body and raised her brows.

"Some talk that was."

Itachi smiled and shook his head.

"Talking things out has always been rough for the Uchiha. It was… a misunderstanding of sorts. I hope the council will see that as well and he'll be partially pardoned for his actions."

Sakura hummed and nodded slowly, picking up Itachi's chart.

"Well, take care, Itachi. And get some rest."

"You as well, Sakura. You deserve it."

Sakura nodded, the irony of Itachi saying she deserved rest not lost on her, before she walked out the door. She scribbled onto his chart, updating his need for surgery and tossed it into its bin, and opting to lean against the counter instead of doing what she had to do.

Ino hadn't woken up. Ino was alive, which was a miracle in itself, but she was still out cold.

Sakura hadn't seen her yet. She'd walked past the room at least thirty times and heard the beeping. She heard the nurses' updates, but she couldn't go in. She'd saved Neji, she hadn't saved Ino. How was she supposed to go hold her hand if she saved someone else?

"You look like hell."

Sakura glanced up and narrowed her eyes at Shikamaru.

"Work straight after fighting a war and tell me if you look any better."

Shikamaru shrugged crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.

"What are you doing here any – "

"Ino, obviously."

Sakura's eyes traveled to the bouquet of flowers in his hand. Oh, obviously.

"Huh," Sakura responded, turning her eyes back to the counter.

Shikamaru pushed off the counter and walked several paces before glancing over his shoulder.

"You coming?"

Sakura glanced up, before scrambling to catch up with him.

"Uh…yeah! I mean, of course, I guess."

* * *

The beeps of the monitor next to her bed would be enough to drive anyone crazy. Sakura should be used to it, spending all day around them. But the repetitive sound being attached to her best friend made her head spin.

After forty-five minutes of her eye twitching, she muted the beeping. She could always turn it back on when she left. Who the hell was going to tell her to stop?

Shikamaru didn't stay long. Her dropped off the flowers, and stood over her bed awkwardly for a few moments. He didn't even sit down before excusing himself with a mumbled "I actually have to get some shit done".

Sakura wasn't sure if it was better or worse with him gone and just being alone with her.

"You know, you have some nerve dying during the war, Ino. You're the one that yells to me for being suicidal. So how are you – "

"Well with all the idiot stuff you pull, you might as well be."

Sakura spun and saw Sasuke standing in the doorway.

"Shut up, you're one to talk about idiot ideas."

Sasuke shrugged and leaned against the doorframe.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

Sasuke flashed his folded up paperwork.

"I just got cleared."

"Sit," Sakura pointed to the chair next to her.

"I got –"

"Sit. I guarantee they didn't look at your sharingan properly."

Sasuke rolled his eyes before sitting next to her. Sakura held up her fingers and examined his coils. While they weren't as bad as Itachi's… they weren't in great shape either.

"Activate."

The rush of chakra caught her off guard. Compared to Itachi, Sasuke didn't control the flow as well. She did some light patchwork on the coils.

"Minimal use over the next six weeks. And by minimal, I mean you better be about to die if you use it. Understood?"

Sasuke's lip pursed as he deactivated his sharingan.

"That's an order, Sasuke."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but didn't leave. He crossed his arms and slumped into the chair.

"Have you seen Itachi yet?"

"Mm," He hummed in confirmation. A moment passed before Sasuke sighed and leaned forward, running his fingers through his hair.

"I saw Shisui too."

"How was that?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"He's in prison."

Sakura nodded and crossed her arms, knowing better than to press.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Sakura was thankful for the company. Being alone with Ino was painful. She glanced over at her friend and frowned at the grimaces across her face.

"Do you think she's dreaming?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"I did."

Sakura nodded, the memory of Sasuke in his coma after Itachi had fought him flashed through her mind.

"If she is, they're not pleasant dreams."

Sasuke sighed and stood up, pacing toward the bed going through a flurry of hand signs.

"Sasuke, I said not to –"

"I don't need my sharingan for everything, Sakura." He pressed his fingers to Ino's forehead and her face instantly relaxed, and if you looked hard enough there was even a hint of a smile.

"What did you…"

"Genjutsu. No one deserves endless nightmares."

Before Sakura could respond with some thanks, or even a question of what kind of genjutsu Sasuke was nearly out the door.

"Get some rest, Sakura. You look like hell."

* * *

The war did her home no favors.

She hadn't been gone long, technically she had slept in her bed just a few nights ago, but she hadn't touched the rest of her home in god knows how long. Showers had taken place at the hospital and food? Soldier pills and eating on the go had been her saving grace in the weeks leading up to the final battle.

Sakura opened her fridge and frowned. Save for a jar of jam and some expired milk, it was barren. She rolled her eyes and slammed it shut, coughing at the dust it lifted up. Food could wait until tomorrow, she supposed.

Plus, she needed a shower desperately.

The water felt like a godsend to her body. The pounding of the stream moving through her aching shoulders. She took a long inhale and flinched. The scent of blood was seeping out of her. Her blood, others' blood. Her hasty, post-battle bathing had been inadequate.

She ran her fingers through her hair and scrubbed, and scrubbed. Her fingernails dug into her scalp a little too hard, but getting the blood and grime and sweat out was a task. And she yanked on the strands painfully, desperately trying to cleanse them. But, the iron scent of the blood still lingered.

She switched to body wash, digging the wash cloth into her skin. Why would it come off? This had never been a problem before. Sure, it was hard to get out, but it was never impossible. She scrubbed until her skin was raw, and the strong scent of lavender masked it – but she knew it was there. She could feel the scent and residue lingering below the husky perfume.

Sakura leaned against the wall of the shower, sliding down until she was curled in a ball. She tasted the saltiness of her tears mixing with the fresh water of the shower. How was she supposed to get better if this damned blood never went away? How was she supposed to process the deaths of her comrades, and even her enemies if their blood never left her skin?

Maybe this was the way she was supposed to atone for the lives she took. Maybe murderers never got the luxury of processing the deaths of those around them. Maybe they just had to live with the heaviness of the lives they took. Maybe that's the cost of peace.

But was this peace? Were the bodies literally just a few miles outside their gates peace? Were the cries of people who lost their families a sign that peace had come? Were the shinobi who fought bravely lying unconscious in hospital beds a worthy sacrifice for the village that betrayed them daily?

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, allowing the last few tears to roll out. She needed sleep, she need her bed. Fuck, she needed _rest_.

* * *

The sleep she found was restless and fleeting, but it was at least something. Her eyes were less swollen and her body was actually doing what she asked of it. Sakura opted for an oversized sweater in lieu on any sort of shinobi attire for the meeting. It wouldn't look out of the place with the fall weather coming in. She packed her bag, poured a cup of coffee, and finally headed to the meeting.

She was late, but screw being punctual.

Sakura made the mistake of knocking, definitely signaling that something was off to Tsunade. She hadn't made it to Hokage without having observation skills.

Tsunade raised her brows as Sakura sat in the chair and sighed, eyeing the lid of her coffee cup. If she kept her eyes here, she wouldn't have to acknowledge the fact Tsunade was waiting for her to tell her what was wrong.

"Well, I suppose I'll inform you of why I called this meeting."

Sakura managed a nod.

"I'm planning to retire."

Her head shot up.

"What?"

Tsunade let out a light laugh.

"Well that woke you up. With the war finally over, I feel this would be a better time than any. I'm tired and three wars in a lifetime is too many. I wanted you to be one of the first to know."

"I – uh – thank you. Who are you planning as your successor?"

Tsunade leaned back and crossed her arms.

"Kakashi seems as clear as ever, as reluctant as he may be."

"Will he actually accept?"

"He'll have about as much of a choice as I did."

Sakura nodded, allowing a small smile to escape. Kakashi, as flawed as he was, would make an excellent Hokage. He eyes returned to her hands and the heavy silence hung between them.

"Why are you here Sakura?"

Sakura went to respond, but Tsunade interrupted before she could, "And don't tell me it's because I called this meeting. You have something to say."

Sakura gnawed the inside of her cheek and eyed the bag next to her.

"And you never knock. What's in the bag?"

"My uniforms."

Sakura didn't dare look up. Her nails were as good of a view as any at this moment.

"And what else?"

Sakura's hand absentmindedly tugged on her loose hair.

"My headband."

Sakura glanced up and Tsunade's gaze wasn't angry or volatile, it was understanding and maybe even a little sympathetic. She swallowed before continuing.

"I also am asking to retire, or well – be removed from active duty."

Tsunade nodded, leaning onto laced fingers.

"Is there a reason?"

Sakura pursed her lips, she knew the reason. The village she once held dear, she couldn't kill for it anymore. Not right now at least. She couldn't defend a village so corrupt. The thought of taking another life right now, the thought of the blood – no.

"I can't take another life. Not right now anyway." Her fingers were rubbing against the coffee cup so quickly she was afraid she might rub them raw.

"I understand. Are you planning to leave the village and travel?"

"Not at the moment. I was hoping to still take on shifts at the hospital."

To save lives, rather than take.

Tsunade nodded, walking around her desk. Sakura stood, leaving the bag on the ground. Tsunade placed a hard on her arm, giving it a light squeeze.

"Thank you for your service to this village, your sacrifices will never be forgotten."

Sakura swallowed, not trusting herself to speaking, nodding.

Her sacrifices – her morals, her sanity, her dignity, her sense of self. They had been vaporized. Yet, what she gave up what nothing compared to others. Some gave up their families, others - their lives.

"If you ever change your mind, there will always been a place for you among our ranks. Take your time."

Sakura gave a small bow, not managing to find any words, and let the door swing shut behind her.

The weight on her chest shifted, but didn't rise. Tsunade was right, she needed time. Instant relief would be too kind.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was a lot angstier than I anticipated. The next will be better, I promise! The next chapter will also likely be the last, though it will be followed by an epilogue.

Let me know what you think, especially with the end drawing near.

Thank you for all your support :)


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Seven

* * *

Sakura couldn't pinpoint the feeling she had. It wasn't upset, but it certainly wasn't a good feeling. She took a sip of her drink and tried to tune back in to whatever Kiba was rambling on about. It was nice to see everyone at Kakashi's celebration, she spent time with her close friends of course, but she didn't see all of the Konoha 12 as often as she liked in her retirement.

Though, it's not like she had much to chime in with. Everyone was talking about their missions, and complaining about things which had no relevance to her anymore. Even Ino's hospital drama was something she couldn't keep up with, she was only there two days a week.

Left out, that was the word. She needed civilian friends, but they also wouldn't get it.

She gnawed her lip and made her way over to the table of feet, picking at a tray of vegetables and sipping her drink. After ten minutes or so of staring at the crowd she headed toward Kakashi.

"Congratulations, Kakashi- sen –"

"Oh Sakura," he slurred in a voice way, _way_ too emotional for him, "You know it's all a sham."

Sakura laughed and shook her head, giving his arm a squeeze before heading for the door.

The winter air hit and she appreciated the fresh feeling it gave her lungs as she headed back to her apartment.

"Sakura! Where are you going?"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see Naruto running after her.

"Home, I – uh – it's been a long day, and I really –"

"A long day? What'd you do?" His brows furrowed.

"I, uh.." She hadn't done anything was the problem. She had knit for a while, gone on a run, and baked for the party tonight.

"I just didn't have much to say."

Naruto tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked next to her.

"We miss you, ya know."

"I'm right here, Naruto."

"No, I mean on missions. Like Sasuke is great and all, but it's not the _same_ without you."

Sakura held her arms close to herself, the air suddenly seeming colder.

"I just… I can't right now. The village is just so –"

"You think I don't know that?"

Sakura stopped and looked at Naruto, taking in the hurt expression on his face.

"Naruto, I –"

"My parents are dead because of their shit. I have a demon inside me because of that, but it's the _people_ , Sakura. We fight to keep the people safe – the _children_."

Sakura frowned and shook her head.

"The children they're going to make child soldiers? And what about the children we fight against in the field? I can't kill a kid again, Naruto, I can't do it."

"Then don't."

"You make it sound so easy, it's not -"

"It _is_. I haven't, and I won't."

"Well I have, and it was that child, or the village. Which children am I supposed to choose?"

Admitting to it hurt. Admitting that she had killed children before wasn't easy, but at the time she easily could be a child as well. Hell, she was _eighteen_ , she was still a child.

Naruto hugged her, and the warmth was enough to make her want to just stop and cry right there. But had promised herself she'd stop the crying. But god, the fact he still cared even after she abandoned them –

"Just keep it in mind, Sakura. The village needs you."

Maybe they did, but Sakura wasn't sure if she could handle serving it again.

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you here."

Sakura turned, mid punch to see Neji walking onto the training field. She furrowed her brow.

"You never use this training field."

Neji raised brows.

"What are you – stalking me?"

Sakura pursed her lips and put a hand on her hip.

"You're the one showing up at my training field, Neji."

Neji shook his head and sat down, placing an extra lunch in her direction. She sat down warily. This was odd at best, and down-right horrifying at worst.

"What did you do?"

Neji rolled his eyes and gestured to the spread in front of him

"I brought you lunch."

Sakura sat down and eyed the bag, before turning her scrutiny to Neji.

"But why did you bring me lunch?"

"Because you look like death, now eat."

Sakura's grin creeped onto her face, even though she tried to hold it back. She hadn't seen Neji in about a week, and even at Kakashi's event, they had barely spoken. He missed her. The Hyuga Neji missed her.

"Stop grinning like an idiot."

Sakura caught her own smile and pointed at him.

"You missed me."

Neji rolled his eyes and Sakura could swear his cheeks were just the slightest bit pink.

"I thought it was time we spent some time together, but I didn't –"

"Just say it, Neji. You. Missed. Me."

"Well I certainly didn't miss _this_."

Sakura rolled her eyes, a light smile dancing on her face. She opened the box, and enjoyed the sandwich he had made.

"You know, I miss it too."

Neji looked up, and Sakura looked up at the sky instead of back at him.

"And honestly, I'm not much happier out of it."

Neji shrugged and leaned back, also finding comfort in the sky.

"Then come back."

Sakura snorted, shaking her head.

"Now you sound like Naruto."

"Nothing's going to change is no one fixes it."

Sakura blood ran cold.

"Are you imply-"

She stopped and shook her head.

"I can't. No one would listen, Neji. Why would they? I'm not even a shinobi anymore."

Neji shrugged, packing up his lunch. Sakura stared at him wide-eyed, as he began to walk away.

"You've never been one to take no for answer. I'll see you around."

Sakura gnawed her cheek and packed up the rest of the lunch. Neji was being ridiculous. There was absolutely no way she could do that.

Could she?

And whether or not she could ate at her the following weeks. It nipped at her ankles on her run, and every click on her knitting needles begged her to find out. Even the squeal of the tea kettle asked her to please, for the love of _god_ find the answer.

She turned to reading, reading something absolutely not related to the village, in an attempt to get the dumb, awful ideas out of her head. It was a love story – well it was a war story disguised as a love story to sell, a clever idea really. She should be focused on the budding romance between the protagonists, but she couldn't help but notice the varying ways of governing of the countries within the story.

They were… democratic.

The governing of Konoha was supposed to be a democracy, or at least it was disguised as such. There was civilian's council, which were elected, and there was the clan council. Then, of course, there were the elders. One would think the councils had governing power because, if not, what was the purpose?

But, they didn't. They merely offered suggestions and a voice, but – in the end – it was up to the Hokage.

Assuming the elders didn't intervene. The elders also offered suggestions, but with their political pull…it was a rare day they were disobeyed.

Sakura slammed the book on her coffee table, and huffed back into the arm chair.

Fine, she'd look into it. If only to prove Neji wrong.

* * *

Sakura wasn't technically allowed in the archives anymore.

And she certainly wasn't allowed in the part of the archives she was slinking through.

But, if they wanted to keep S-Rank shinobi out, they really should have devised a better security system.

Sakura fingered through the files, tucking them into her pack. No one came to look at them anyway, they were simply record keeping. But there was one that was missing, the file on the Hyuga.

She combed through the section one more time, and she realized that all current clan documents… were kept in the Hokage's office.

* * *

Kakashi dropped the file on the desk as she walked in and raised his brows.

"This is what you're looking for, yes?"

Sakura eyed the file with Hyuga crest on the front, before glaring up at Kakashi.

"Why would I be looking for that?"

"Well I just took a leisurely stroll through the archives - they're quiet for reading," Kakashi tapped his book.

"And I happened to notice a few interesting files missing. If I was to connect the dots, I would have figured this one would be the one the assailant was missing." Kakashi leaned forward, his tone became more serious, "Would I be correct?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, matching his. Today was not the day for her to lose a battle of wills.

"And if you were?"

"I'd be inclined at give it to you."

Sakura attempted to hide the surprise the gushed through her with a small perk of an eyebrow.

"At what cost?"

Kakashi made a gasping noise.

"Did you just accuse me of attempting to strike a bargain with you?"

Sakura sighed and leaned forward on his desk.

"If I remember correctly, lesson number forty-seven - nothing in the shinobi world comes without a cost. Right, _Lord Hokage_?"

Kakashi leaned into his palm and waved her off.

"Well good thing your retired, Sakura. Shinobi lessons no longer apply to you."

Sakura eyed the folder for another moment, before opening it and scanning its contents. It was exactly what she needed. She tucked it into her bag, and gave a small bow.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi turned to face the village.

"For what, Sakura?"

Sakura smirked and ran from the office.

* * *

Sakura had meant to spend two weeks or so putting her theories to rest. It wasn't possible, but the more she read, the more she was bothered. The more she needed to do something. Everything was in a worse state than she thoughts. And small inklings of how to fix it just kept popping into her brain. If anything, more research was proving Neji right.

Not that she'd _ever_ let him know that.

So, in the next year it consumed her.

She started in meetings with Iruka and talking about the children and the education system. He directed her to other education professionals. She moved onto meetings with the clan's heads and asking them about their policies and the clan council. She surveyed civilians, particularly the clan council.

Her notes were meticulous and resounding. Things needs to change, but _how_? Starting _where_?

Convincing Kakashi to let her leave was… not the easiest thing she ever did.

But when complained that Sasuke and Naruto had gotten the chance to leave and travel the world, he'd clammed up and waved her off with agreement as long as she came back within the year.

She didn't realize she could travel so fast. She called in favor after favor. She needed to visit every village she could and survey their leaders and people. Some villagers were better, especially the smaller ones. Some villages were worse, much worse.

And then, there was the hunt for a seal master. She needed one greater than Jiraiya, and even worse, she needed one that was trustworthy.

There were nights she cried in frustration and came near calling it quits and stomping home. But there were others where she couldn't imagine herself having any other purpose. She was helping people, saving lives, and she didn't have to kill a single soul.

In an inn just outside of Konoha, she started at the sheet of paper in front of her.

It was done.

The proposal was done.

She had read it thirty times, double checked her sources and research. It wasn't perfect - nothing every would be – but it was close.

Sakura took a long breath, the fire in her veins burning and ready, before she got ready to walk back to the village.

* * *

It was nice to see the gates again. They were always strangely welcoming after long journeys. As the crisp fall air twisted through her hair, she did not mourn the loss of the Konoha summer. She'd spent that time up in Sound, where the summers were much more mild and rainy.

"Kotesu, Izumo," She greeted as she walked up to check in.

"Sakura, you're home!" She nodded.

"Do you know if Kakashi is in his office, or in town?"

"He should be. Haven't seen that lazy bastard of out his office in -"

Izumo elbowed Kotetsu.

"Yes. The answer is, yes."

Sakura stifled and chuckle as she headed up to the Tower. She ran her fingers over the proposal. She hadn't wanted to stuff it in her bag, or seal it in a scroll. She couldn't let it out of her sight.

She stared at Kakashi's door, not knowing whether to knock or just walk in. Tsunade had always insisted she just come in. Kakashi was likely –

"Sakura, you are back."

Sakura looked up at Shikamaru in the doorway.

"Good to see you," she offered.

She patted her on the shoulder as he moved to hold the door for her.

"Yeah, you too."

The door thudded behind her and Sakura took an inaudible breath as she sat down across from Kakashi.

"Good to have you back, Sakura."

"It's good to be back."

Sakura placed the proposal on the desk.

"It's done."

Kakashi picked up the booklet and eyed the title –

"Mosaic?"

Sakura nodded.

"A mosaic is an art piece put together by pieces of broken glass."

Kakashi nodded.

"I'm aware of the definition, but why?"

"Konoha is shattered. Our education system is archaic, our children are dying, our veterans are going mad, we have clans actively participating in the oppression of their own people, and our government system is so corrupted I didn't know where to start. But, even with all that, it could be beautiful.

Konoha could be full of joy and light. It could be healthy and prospering. Not just financially, but educationally and socially. We should be leaders in our field. But, we have a lot of work to do. I've proposed solutions based on research from other villages and nations. We can't stand to be broken shard of glass anymore, it's not working. We need to become a mosaic."

Kakashi nodded, slowly, and read the proposal. Sakura wasn't sure how long it took. It felt like hours, as the silence nearly suffocated her. But, she knew it was sound. She had argued with herself for months over every point and detail.

He closed the booklet, and looked up her. His eye turned up into a smile.

"This is well done, Sakura. You will be the head of Project Mosiac."

Sakura nodded, and bowed before dashing out of the room.

She didn't have a second to waster or a moment to spare, she had a job to do.

* * *

A/N: And... that's the end folks.

An epilogue will follow, but essentially thats the end of Broken Glass.

Thank you everyone again for all the support, reviews, favorites, and for reading. Writing this has been such a pleasure.

My next fic will be an ItaShi and SNS fic, if that's up your alley - so give that a look in a few weeks if that's up your alley.

Thanks again for reading! :)


	29. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

Sakura brushed off her kimono as she stood up and faced the elders.

"You've been a thorn in our side for nearly two years now. Are you finally satisfied?"

Sakura grinned. Over the past two years, she had made it her goal to finish project Mosaic. The elders fought her every step of the way, but they clearly didn't realize who they were picking a bone against. It was a constant tug of war, but Sakura called in favor after favor, with promises of a better village. There are some things even the elders can't say no to.

It had been a month since the new government system had been enacted, and it was going…alright. There was some quarreling and frustration. Changes had to pass through both a clan and civilian council before going to the Hokage. And sometimes, it even got brought to elders to see if it aligned with the Leaf's laws. Things weren't nearly done as quickly as they once were, but maybe it was better that way.

Maybe it was better that people had to look over their laws and actions, and have them approved before going through with them. Transparency was hard, but hopefully it was for the best.

"Being satisfied is a feeling I'm not sure I'll ever have," Sakura shrugged. "But, I am quite pleased with myself, yes."

With a bow, Sakura took her leave and headed toward Kakashi's office.

* * *

Sakura slipped into the office, not bothering to knock anymore. At some points, this office had felt more like hers than his with the amount of time she spent in it.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of such formal attire?"

Sakura plopped down in one of the arm chairs and rolled her eyes.

"I had a meeting with the elders, don't feel too special."

"You wound me. You think as the Hokage –"

"You despise being called Lord _Hokage_."

Kakashi waved her office and sighed, leaning back in his seat. Sakura eyed his desk. It was littered with take-out containers and ramen cups. The paperwork was piled high, and Kakashi's dark circles matched. He was exhausted.

She could sympathize.

"So, what did you need?"

"Project Mosaic is complete."

"It is, or well, it is set to complete Saturday and I still have to write –"

"What do you plan on doing with your time now?"

"I… hadn't… I hadn't thought much beyond the project."

Sakura chewed the inside of her lip. Poor planning wasn't her style. She liked to know what she was doing and where she was going. But the project had taken up her life, there wasn't time to think about anything else.

"Would you consider joining our ranks again?"

Shock flood through her veins. Sure, she knew he was going to ask, but that didn't stop her from being surprised. A strange mix of dread and excitement bubbled up inside her as well. She wrung her fingers, and swallowed.

"I'll consider it. Can I let you know by the end of the week?"

Kakashi leaned onto his knuckles and nodded.

"Take the time you need."

* * *

It felt so much better to be back in casual attire. Her apartment was on the way to the academy thankfully. She sat on the edge of the academy grounds, and appreciated the fact the older students were helping the younger.

The genin age had been moved up to fourteen. Sakura had asked for sixteen, but she supposed she would take the two-year increase. The older students now were asked to take more specialized courses, or to learn a trade. There was a mentorship program as well.

They had time to develop as people before they were to start their shinobi careers. Maybe then there wouldn't be so many people like her. Other people who couldn't live normal lives. People who couldn't fall asleep without the faces of the slaughtered peaking in. Sakura shook her head.

Enough of that. At least the future would be better, brighter.

She brushed herself off and made her way over to Iruka, who was walking away from an obstacle course.

"Sakura, good to see you!"

Sakura grinned, appreciating the twinkle in his eye and warmth radiating off of him.

"Good to see you too, Iruka-sensei."

"What brings you? Just checking in?"

Sakura nodded, crossing her arms.

"How are Choji and Shino's kids doing?"

Sakura gestured to a group of ten or so kids, all together playing what looked like marbles.

"They're good. A lot of them still have ways to go, but it's better than it was."

Sakura nodded. Shino and Choji had readily taken on the task of running the orphanage. Sakura had originally asked Iruka for recommendations, but the boys had beat him too it and insisted on it. All of the children there were required to have weekly mental health check-ups with Ino, and her staff.

Ino, right. They were supposed to get tea this afternoon.

"I have to head off, Iruka-sensei. Thank you again, let me know if you need anything."

Iruka smiled at her. "Thank _you_ , Sakura.

Sakura waved his off as she glided toward her favorite teashop.

* * *

Sakura appreciated the warmth of the cup. She hadn't expected it to be so windy today in addition to the crisp air.

"-and so, he's been a weird addition with all his ink stuff. But I mean, T&I is good, I guess. It's nice that we're not allowed to do those things anymore. Ibiki gets it. Like, he grumbles like the old way is better, but you can tell he actually prefers not to torture people so much."

Ino sighed, flipping her ponytail behind her, and popping a biscuit in her mouth.

"Are you ever going to pop into the clinic? It's your baby too, forehead."

Sakura shrugged, and leaned back in her chair.

"I mean the whole thing is my baby. But you did most of the research, I just gave you a structure and go-ahead –"

"And the staff. You did the training, and wrote the handbooks. And developed the procedures. Stop selling yourself short."

Sakura sipped her tea and smiled. She did love the mental health clinic. The main focus was children, but there was an area for adults. It was mostly Ino's idea. Sakura had wanted to do something for people with trauma, but didn't know what. Ino had saved the day. Between her medical knowledge and clan jutsu, she was able to develop many methods.

Sakura just put the knowledge into motion.

"Thank you. But it's really yours. I'll stop by sometime soon, though."

"Yeah, yeah, you've been saying that for weeks." Ino waved and winked at her.

"I'm a busy woman, pig!" Sakura gave a dramatic eye roll, finishing the last of her tea.

"Mind if I stop and get some flowers on our way back?"

"Sure, insult me and then ask for flowers. It's fine, I'll just continue to be the better one in this friendship." Ino grinned, as she began to head out of the shop.

"Oh my _god_ , you're insane." Sakura sighed, elbowing Ino lightly as they headed down the stressed.

* * *

Sakura finished a small prayer after placing the flowers down on the grave below her. She slipped her knees out from under her and moved into hugging them.

"I think I did okay, Lee."

The wind blew. Which was normal for autumn, but a part of her hoped it was Lee's way of agreeing.

"The kids don't have to fight anymore. They're going to have childhoods. They're going to play games, and smile and laugh. I think you'd be happy."

"Happy? Sakura, he'd be thrilled."

Sakura spun to see Tenten walking up with a small bouquet. She slid down beside her.

"You think so?"

Tenten wrinkled her nose.

"When did you start being so meek again? Of course he would."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"I suppose he would. I just want to make him proud, you know?"

Tenten nodded, and clasped her hands together in prayer. Sakura stayed for a few moments longer, appreciating the breeze and company.

Tenten was right, he would be proud. This is the kind of thing he would have wanted.

* * *

She opted for a run this evening in lieu of normal training. Sakura hadn't run in a few days, and she couldn't let herself get shown up by the boys. She laced her shoes up and headed out onto the trail. She'd been running the same path for years now, but it was as quiet as ever. It would wind through the forest, up along the creek, and then out into a field before finishing on the outskirts of the village downtown.

It was a nice path, and she slowed as she approached the creek. She spotted Itachi and Shisui walking the edge together. Shisui's face was bright as he seemingly said something silly. Itachi seemed to pout for a moment, but had a smile that reached his eyes in seconds.

Keeping Shisui alive, let alone getting him out of prison, has been a process. Sakura had to pull more favors than she thought she ever could. Luckily, the consistent mistreatment of the Uchiha had been a valid, and upstanding argument. He faced some prison time, was on permanent surveillance, and had to have permission to leave the village, but he was free.

He and Itachi were able to enjoy their retirement together.

"Sakura!"

Sakura's head snapped up as Shisui appeared in front of her. Itachi jogged after, just behind him.

"Shisui, you have to stop doing that."

Shisui sighed. "There's no other time to do it now. And she doesn't mind."

"I mean, you only startled me a bit."

"That's the spirit, Sakura. See, Itachi, I can –"

"However," Sakura began, shoving two fingers into Shisui's chest, and Itachi crossed his arms and smirk creeping onto his face. "You should absolutely not be using so much chakra for needless exercises. I just healed you last week when you nearly had chakra exhaustion from _tag_."

Shisui gestured wildly toward Itachi. "Are you going to just let this happen?"

Itachi shrugged. "I've had enough ear flicks for my life time."

Shisui's face contorted into a pout and Itachi linked their arms together with a small wave to Sakura.

"Have a good evening, Sakura. I'll make sure to keep this one under control."

Sakura laughed as a definitely-not-in-control Shisui was dragged back toward their cabin.

* * *

Sakura eyed her apartment from the ground as she came home from her run. It was dark now, and her living room light was on. Odd, she wasn't one to leave lights on in the middle of the day. She slunk up the stairs and down the hallway. Her door was slightly ajar, and her traps had definitely been deactivated.

Who on Earth could have –

"If you don't stop moving it's going to stay like that."

"I'm not letting you re-break my arm!"

She rolled her eyes and pushed the door open and seriously contemplated how she ended up being the most stable of team seven.

Her first aid supplies were scattered all over her living room. Sasuke was holding Naruto's arm, which had begun to heal in a broken position. Sasuke wasn't in great shape himself, with a still bleeding shoulder wound.

"If you get blood on my new couch, so help my god. _Move_ , Sasuke."

They both looked up as Sakura shoved him out of the way and began examining Naruto's arm. She shook her head at the damage. The fox always made his wounds heal quickly, but usually they were healed wrong. She'd have to re-break it.

"Here, bite down on this." She shoved a cloth into his mouth despite his clear protests, as she shifted the bone. He screamed, and then groaned as she began healing it properly.

"This is why you go to the hospital. Why are you two on my couch?"

Sasuke sighed, having taken some gauze to hold pressure on his shoulder.

"Well this idiot –"

"It was your idea. You didn't want to deal with the crowded – "

"I don't care whose idea it was!" Sakura groaned, suddenly feeling like the parent. "But it was a stupid one that you should not do again. I told you about my supplies for small injuries, not broken bones and gashes."

Sakura wrapped Naruto's arm into a sling and turned to face Sasuke. She removed the gauze and groaned.

"You're going to need stitches. This is so deep. You're lucky it isn't infected already."

"I wouldn't let –"

Sakura flicked him in the ear. "Don't talk back to me while asking for my help. Naruto, get my suture kit."

Naruto blinked at her wide eyed. "But my arm –"

"You still have one good one, and lord knows I don't know where you tossed it." Sakura groaned as she allowed hands to glow and heal the wound as best she could before she had stitches.

Fifteen minutes later, Sakura finished the last stitch and sighed, flopping back into the couch.

"You two exhaust me."

Naruto sighed and leaned back against the couch, grinning. Sasuke found his way to the arm chair, propping his elbow onto his knee.

"You look exhausted."

Sakura opened her eyes and glared up at Sasuke.

"You look fantastic yourself."

"Have you eaten today?"

Sakura blinked and thought for a moment. She'd skipped breakfast this morning, but –

"I ate a few biscuits at tea with Ino."

Naruto jumped up and Sakura blinked, continually fascinated with his ability to just recover like it was nothing. He really was a freak of nature.

"Let's go get dinner. We haven't had a squad dinner in… it's been a long time."

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair and stood up, stretching. Sasuke stood as well.

"I'll come."

"Well, if you're gracing us with your presence I guess I'll have to."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her.

"Let's go to the new downtown. Ichiraku moved there for a bigger location and I haven't been able to –"

"Yeah, that fine." Sasuke put on his coat and they headed out to the streets.

It was strange, but nice to be heading toward the old Uchiha district together. They spent some time together over the past few years, but not nearly enough. And most of it was spent working on the project. They didn't have much time to just hang out like normal people anymore.

Sakura noticed the way Sasuke's eyes flickered to the Uchiha symbol as they entered the new downtown. The Uchiha reparations had been a topic of contention, but with building up the district and giving ten percent of all profits over the next twenty-five years to the Uchiha clan, they had reached an agreement.

Sakura linked arms with the both of them, grinning, as they walked toward the ramen shop together. In the end, they'd done okay considering they were a cursed team.

* * *

Sakura approached the Hyuga compound and made her way to Neji's home. She walked around to find him sitting in the garden. He hadn't changed out of his white yukata and his forehead was still bandaged.

Sakura slid down next to him on the porch step. The silence was comfortable. She leaned a head on his shoulder, and he placed a hand on her knee.

"Did it hurt?" She said, finally breaking the silence.

Neji paused, his eyes looking up to the sky and then back to the ground.

"Not nearly as much as having it."

Sakura turned to face Neji, running her thumb over the bandages. Neji looked off to the side as she did so. He licked his lips, and Sakura could feel the unease radiating off of him.

"Have you looked at it?"

Neji's eyes shifted to face the other direction. An answer enough for her. She nodded, taking his hand and leading him over to one of the ponds.

She lifted her fingers to the knot that held the bandages together.

"May I?"

Neji solicited a small nod and Sakura untied the knot, allowing the bandages to fall down and reveal the underneath. She ran her finger over the skin, and Neji flinched as she reached the center. She gestured to the pond.

"Look."

Neji closed his eyes, taking a small breath before turning to see his reflection. His hand flew to his forehead as he ran his fingers along the flesh.

"It's gone."

Sakura squeezed his hand.

"As it should be."

Neji turned away, his hair covering his face. Sakura looked up, noting the lack of clouds in the sky. She ran her thumb along his hand occasionally, knowing it was the best comfort she could give.

"Thank you."

Sakura didn't look to face him, not trusting herself to see him tear stained face and not cry herself.

"I just wanted to make things right."

A long moment of silence hung between them. There was a small amount of water trickling from a fountain and the occasional splash from a coy. The trees rustled in the autumn wind and Sakura closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth of the sun.

"Things are going to be alright."

And they would be.

* * *

A/N: And that's all folks. I have a few possible side fics planned, so look out for those. But, I hope you all enjoyed the wrap up. Thank for the consistent supports. Thank you for every favorite, follow, and review. This fic was my baby and knowing people enjoyed it makes me so happy. So, thank you.

If you enjoyed this, I hope you continue to read my works. They vary in genre, pairing, and tone quite a bit, but I hope you find them enjoyable.

Until next time,

Emma Raye


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